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William Morrish, Mary Ann Hamence and their Descendants
At age 13, Mary Ann Hamence arrived in Port Adelaide, South Australia (SA) with her father and siblings on the "Osceola" on 5th April 1851. 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, having come from Devonshire, England. They married in 1858 and raised a family in Prospect Village, Adelaide and in Crystal Brook in the Clare.
Contents on this page:
Photo of Half a Family
Related Research
William Morrish Obituary
William Morrishs Devon Origins
Some Descendants
And on another page:
Photo of Half a Family
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 may have been father (William) and son (Walter) or it may not have contained a photo at all. The left half came down the family through Eva (and her daughter Nina). If the other half (still) exists, it may be in the possession of the descendants of Walter Morrish.
Contact
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 author - David Coombe - is the great-great-grandson of William Morrish and Mary Ann Hamence - see contact link at top.
Related Research
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 below.
Genevieve can be contacted at:
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 father’s 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.
Last updated: 29 May 2009