coombe.id.au ~ david coombe history

Mostly Coombe - William Morrish, Mary Ann Hamence and their Descendants

At age 13, Mary Ann Hamence arrived in Port Adelaide, South Australia (SA) with her father, Edward Hamence, and siblings on the Osceola on 5th April 1851.  Her mother had died in 1849. Her family came from Cambridgeshire, England. A few years later, William Morrish, age 19, arrived in Port Adelaide. He arrived on the David Malcolm on 4th January 1854, coming from Devonshire, England. They married in 1858 and raised a family in Prospect Village, Adelaide and in Crystal Brook in the Clare.

See a little more on William Morrish and Edward and Mary Ann Hamence.

Photo of Mother and Daughter

This ambrotype photo of half a family is in a gilt frame and set in a leather case that could be stood open. The photo is thought to be Mary Ann MORRISH (nee HAMENCE) and her baby daughter Eva in about 1863. There were two children in the family in 1863 - Walter (aged 2) and Eva (aged 1). The left half of the photo case is mother and daughter, the right half would have had velvet padding. This photo came down the family through Eva (and her daughter Nina).

William Morrish Obituary

Source: Adelaide Chronicle, 25 Aug 1928, p20. Note: includes photo of suited gentleman in about his eighties with gray hair and beard and something like a wattle sprig in his lapel.

Mr William Morrish, who died on August 2 at Crystal Brook, was an old and respected resident.  He lived in the district for more than half a century.  He was born in Devonshire in 1834 and had reached an age of 94.  He arrived in South Australia in 1853 in the David Malcolm.  He went to the Victorian diggings and on returning settled in the Prospect district, where he was engaged in farming and contracting for close on twenty years.  He helped in ballasting the railway line from Adelaide to the Port and later on from Adelaide to Gawler.  He was also carting goods to the Burra copper mines and northern stations.  When the northern areas were opened up for selection, he went to Crystal Brook in 1874.  He took up land, combining farming and grazing with moderate success, experiencing the difficulties that usually go with pioneering and the settlement of new lands.  In 1858, he married Miss Mary Ann Hamence, a native of Ely, Cambridge.  Their family consisted of ten children.  Those surviving are Messrs Walter Morrish, Clarence Park;  William Edward Morrish, Port Pirie; and Harrold Morrish, Grange;  Mrs J Johnstone, Orbost, Victoria;  Miss Morrish, Crystal Brook and Mrs H.T. Forrester, Perth.  There are twenty grandchildren and twenty-five great-grandchildren.  Mr Morrish was a member of Prospect Council from its inception until he left the district and was the last surviving member of the first council.

Note: the barque David Malcolm, 538 tons left Plymouth on 21 September 1853 and arrived in Adelaide on 4 January 1854.  Passengers included the Morrish family: William Morrish, 51, Farm Servant, Devon single parent; William 18 Labourer; Grace 14 Servant; and Betsy 11.

William Morrish's Devon Origins

William senior was born about 1802.  It is thought that he married Elizabeth LEE at Buckland Brewer, Devon in 1823.  In the 1851 Census, William senior was an agricultural labourer, living with daughters Betsy MORRISH and Grace MORRISH in Common Moor, Putford East, Devon.  William junior was also an agricultural labourer and living nearby.  (In the previous census, 1841, William senior's wife Elizabeth was still alive.)  William senior, widower, migrated with his three children William, Grace and Betsy in 1853-4.  He died in 1888 in Crystal Brook, SA.

Some Descendants

Generation One

1.  William Morrish was born in 1834 in Devonshire, ENGLAND. He married Mary Ann HAMENCE, daughter of Edward HAMENCE and Mary CLARKE, on 25 Nov 1858 at BC Chapel, Bowden, Adelaide, South Australia (SA). He died on 2 Aug 1928 at Crystal Brook, SA.
     He immigrated on 4 Jan 1854 aboard "David Malcolm" to Port Adelaide, SA.
     Children of William MORRISH and Mary Ann HAMENCE were as follows:
                i.  William Morrish; born 22 Oct 1859 at Prospect Village , SA;
                          died 6 Nov 1859 at Prospect Village, SA.
     2.        ii.  Walter Morrish, born 7 Feb 1861 at Prospect Village, SA;
                          married Marion Elizabeth FERGUSON.
     3.       iii.  Eva Morrish, born 18 Sep 1862 at Prospect Village, SA;
                          married John JOHNSTON.
               iv.  William Edward Morrish; born 9 Jul 1864 at Prospect Village, SA;
                          married Alma Charlolla BOHLIN 21 Jun 1911 at Port Pirie, SA;
                          died 22 Nov 1947 at age 83.
                v.  BERTHA Morrish; born 21 Aug 1865 Islington, Adelaide, SA;
                          died c. 1936 at ? Crystal Brook, SA.
               vi.  Albert Richard Morrish; born 1867 Prospect Village ;
                          died 1883 Crystal Brook.
              vii.  Thomas Edwin Morrish; born 31 Jul 1869 at Prospect Village , SA;
                          died 4 Oct 1870 at Islington, Adelaide, SA, at age 1.
             viii.  Anne Edith Morrish; born 21 Feb 1873 at Prospect Village, SA.
               ix.  Laura Louisa Morrish; born 16 Jul 1876 at Crystal Brook, SA;
                          married Henry Lorimer FORRESTER 19 Mar 1902 at
                          Methodist Church in Napperby, SA.
                          In 1928 she lived in Perth, WA.
                x.  Edmund Harrold Clark Morrish; born 1 Nov 1878 at Crystal Brook, SA.

Genevieve adds the following notes. "There were other connections between the Ferguson and Morrish family, as Walter's sister Laura married Henry Lorimer Forrester, nephew of Jane Forrester, who married Gilbert Ferguson. Marion died on 5 Jul 1895, aged 32, in Napperby, shortly after the birth of her third child. She was buried with her father at Crystal Brook. Her children went to live with their grandfather, William Morrish on his farm, where they were brought up by their spinster aunt Bertha. Walter was given part of his fathers farm and after he moved to Glenelg to live with his son Edmund, his youngest son Albert took over the farm. His grandson Russell remembers Walter as a stern man."

Generation Two

2.  Walter Morrish was born on 7 Feb 1861 at Prospect Village, SA.
     He married Marion Elizabeth FERGUSON on 1 Oct 1890 at the residence of
     Mrs Ferguson in Napperby, SA.  Marion was born on 4 Sep 1861 at Stockport,
     the daughter of Charles Cliff FERGUSON and Helen MURDOCH.
     He died on 4 Mar 1943 at Crystal Brook, SA, at age 82.
     Children of Walter MORRISH and Marion Elizabeth FERGUSON all born at
       Crystal Brook, were as follows:
                i.  Edmund Walter Campbell Morrish; born 27 Jul 1891;
                          married Dorothy Teresa RAFTERY 30 Jun 1926 at
                          Catholic Presbytery, Port Pirie, SA.
                          He lived in Glenelg.
               ii.  Annie Marion Morrish; born 9 Jun 1893;
                          married Berkeley Howard SAINT, a Crystal Brook farmer on
                          29 Mar 1917 at Methodist Church, Napperby, SA.
                          Genevieve adds: "A niece remembered her as beautiful, even in old age. They lived in Ascot Park. Berkley died aged 85 and Annie aged 87."  She also has further information in their children: Geoffrey Lincoln Saint MORRISH and Minnie Saint MORRISH.
              iii.  Albert Richard Murdock Morrish; born 24 Jun 1895;
                          married Alice Sarah JOHNS 30 Jun 1917 at
                          Good Shepherd Church, Bowden, Adelaide, SA.
                          Genevieve adds: Albert was "10 days old when his mother died. He was brought up by his aunt on his grandfather's farm. He was a policeman, then a dairyman, taking over the farm from his father. He married Alice Sarah Johns on 30 Jun 1917 at Good Shepherd Church, Bowden. He was living at 61 Aroona Rd, Kilkenny when he died in hospital on 12 Aug 1969, aged 74. His wife died on 6 Nov 1987, both buried at Cheltenham."

Genevieve also has information on the descendants of Albert Richard Murdock MORRISH and Alice Sarah JOHNS, including the following other surnames: ZANKER, PEARCE and CHAPMAN.

3.  Eva Morrish was born on 18 Sep 1862 at Prospect Village, SA.
     She married John JOHNSTON, son of John Johnston and Elizabeth WILLIAMSON (?),
     on 3 Aug 1887 at Napperby, SA. She died in 1929 at Orbost, VIC.
     Children of Eva MORRISH and John JOHNSTON were as follows:
                i.  Adelaide May JOHNSTON, born 31 May 1888 at Crystal Brook, SA;
                          married John "Jack" Cumming.
               ii.  Richard Robert JOHNSTON ("Dick"); born circa 1890;
                          married Grace Morris; died 1976 at Orbost, VIC.
              iii.  Margaret Laura JOHNSTON; born 1891 at Orbost, VIC;
                          married Walter Beames; died 1978 at Yarram, VIC.
               iv.  Eva Christina JOHNSTON; born 1892 at Orbost, VIC;
                          married Rev Frank G FARAM; died 1975 at Prahran, Melbourne, VIC.
                v.  Malcolm Morrish JOHNSTON; born 1893 at Orbost, VIC;
                          married Hilda Nellie McEWAN.
               vi.  John Williamson JOHNSTON; born 1895 at Orbost, VIC;
                          died 19 Sep 1917, killed in action, BELGIUM.
              vii.  Nina JOHNSTON, born 12 Sep 1898 at Orbost, VIC;
                          married Lionel Andrew COOMBE.
             viii.  Bertha Barbara JOHNSTON; born 1903 at Orbost, VIC;
                          died 1930 at Orbost, VIC.
               ix.  Edward Walters JOHNSTON; born 1905 at Orbost, VIC;
                          married Irene RICHARDSON.
                x.  Archibald Andrew JOHNSTON; born 1906 at Orbost, VIC;
                          married Roma BAILEY; died 1978 at Orbost, VIC.

Research and Contact

Did you find your grandparent or other ancestor in the descendancy chart above?  Is there anything you can add to help build the family history?  The author - David Coombe - is the great-great-grandson of William Morrish and Mary Ann Hamence. To add, contribute, comment, contact David Coombe

Genevieve Kang is researching the FERGUSON and MORRISH families, including the descendants of Walter MORRISH (William and Mary MORRISH's eldest surviving son) and Marion Elizabeth FERGUSON.  Some of Genevieve's research is included above. To add, contribute, comment on that line, contact: David Coombe and Genevieve Kang.

Last updated: 11 Jan 2016