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Hi Is anyone able to help me find any Information on a Sophia Hewitt born approx 1846 father Henry Hewitt mother Martha Perrin.
I believe she was born in London. Came to Australia possible Melbourne Victoria around 1869 she died 1899 Eskineville NSW Australia. She was married to a Alexander C Pratt and had children named Alexander, Archibold, Marion and Roderick her whole families lifestyle has me confused. Oh and I believe she married Alexander after she had the children married 1891 Newtown NSW .
Talk about putting the cart before the horse.
If anyone has any time to help I would greatly appreciate it
Regards Amanda

HI Amanda
could be a distinct possibility 1851 census
Name: Sophia Huiet
Age: 7
Estimated birth year: abt 1844
Relation: Daughter
Father's Name: Henry
Mother's Name: Martha
Gender: Female
Where born: St Lukes
Civil parish: Christchurch Spitalfields
County/Island: Middlesex
Country: England
Street Address:

Occupation:

Condition as to marriage:

Disability:

View image
Registration district: Whitechapel
Sub-registration district: Artillery
ED, institution, or vessel: 14
Neighbors: View others on page
Household schedule number: 98
Household Members:
Name Age
Henry Huiet 31
Martha Huiet 45
Sophia Huiet 7
Emile Huiet 5
Henry Huiet 2

Marriage record Martha Perrin to Henry Hewitt 19th Dec 1842 at St.Marys church Lambeth
Henry Hewitt full age servant , father Thomas Hewitt farmer
Martha Perrin full age father John Perrin ,brewers servant

The person who registered her death did not know her mother's name. This is the entry from the NSW BDM. Her mother's name would normally be next to the father's (where it says Died Erskineville on this record).


Registration Number Last Name Given Name(s) Father's Given Name(s) Mother's Given Name(s) District
14456/1899 PRATT SOPHIA HENRY DIED ERSKINEVILLE NEWTOWN

Here are births for children with Alexander C Pratt and Sophia as parents. With their dates of birth. All except one are from the Maitland District which is near Newcastle NSW.

Next step is to work out whether Alexander C. Pratt had a wife in England before he came to Australia. I reckon you have about an 85% chance of that being the case.


Registration Number Last Name Given Name(s) Father's Given Name(s) Mother's Given Name(s) District

20578/1882 PRATT RORY V ALEXANDER C SOPHIA EAST MAITLAND

14144/1876 PRATT ALEXANDER MELBOURNE ALEXANDER CHARLES SOPHIA MAITLAND

360/1873 PRATT ISABELLA L M ALEXANDER SOPHIA SYDNEY

16392/1879 PRATT ARCHIBALD THOMAS ALEXANDER C SOPHIA MAITLAND

16393/1879 PRATT MARIAN E ALEXANDER C SOPHIA MAITLAND

There was an Alexander Pratt who came to Australia on the Dandenong in August 1872. He travelled alone as far as I can see and was a steerage passenger. He arrived at Melbourne and travelled to Sydney, judging by the info at the top of the ship's log.

These are persons on the Unassisted Passenger Lists into Victoria about 1869. I have removed the children. Can not see S. Hewitt, or Sophia Hewitt. Slight possibility with the unnamed Mrs Hewitt.

Family Name First Name Age Month Year Ship Port Fiche Page
HEWITT ---- 24 NOV 1866 ALHAMBRA N 071 001
HEWITT ---- MR 25 OCT 1871 CLAUD HAMILTON II N 114 004
HEWITT ---- MR A FEB 1869 AVOCA F 121 001
HEWITT ---- MR 21 DEC 1871 TARARUA N 115 003
HEWITT ---- MR 39 JAN 1870 MARY N 102 001
HEWITT ---- MRS 32 JAN 1870 MARY N 102 001

HEWITT ED SWANSTON 30 OCT 1869 ERNESTINE B 287 001
HEWITT ELIZABETH 20 JUL 1866 STAR OF INDIA B 258 008
HEWITT EMMA SWANSTON 30 OCT 1869 ERNESTINE B 287 001

HEWITT FRANK 24 DEC 1869 LINCOLNSHIRE B 288 003
HEWITT FRANK MRS 20 SEP 1871 RANGITOTO N 114 003
HEWITT HENRY 22 SEP 1869 HIGHFLYER B 286 001

HEWITT J 20 JUN 1868 OMEO N 086 001
HEWITT J 30 NOV 1869 OMEO N 101 001

HEWITT JOHN 22 JUN 1867 ALHAMBRA N 077 003

HEWITT R 22 FEB 1871 ALHAMBRA N 109 001
HEWITT R 29 NOV 1870 ALHAMBRA II N 108 003
HEWITT SAML 26 JUL 1870 TARARUA N 106 001

HEWITT W REVD A NOV 1866 CHAMPION OF THE SEAS B 262 011

For Pratt family coming to Australia use this web link if you would like to search further.

http://proarchives.imagineering.com.au/index_search_results.asp
Could not find anything which matched.

Interesting. No marriage under Alexander Charles Pratt in England. Do you know where he was born? Hmm might start with Australia instead of assuming he came from OS.

Stretched the limits of the imagination searched 1830 to 1860. No Alexander Pratt born in NSW. A couple of Charles.

Nope if you need to go any further with his info I'll need more to go by.

Registration Number Groom's Surname Groom's Given Name(s) Bride's Last Name
at Time of Marriage Bride's Given Name(s) District *
6057/1891 PRATT ALEXANDER C HEWITT SOPHIA NEWTOWN


Sorry forgot the marriage information. From NSW BDM.
You already know the details.

Do any of these names I'm researching ring a bell with anyone? I have given surnames and place of origin. All migrated to Victoria, Australia in the early to mid 1800's, some via New Zealand

DALRYMPLE - BAND - BRAID - JUSTICE - MILLAR - PHILP -***** PRATT *******- TOD - WALLACE - WISHART = All of Fifeshire, Scotland

Very old info from Aust Family History Message board. Did your Alexander Pratt come from Scotland.

This might be of interest.

England and Wales Criminal Register

Name: Sophia Hewitt
Date of Trial: 9 Aug 1858
Trial Year: 1858
Location of Trial: Cheshire, England
Crime: See Image
Date of Execution or Release: See Image

The record shows "No True Bill" in the conviction column. This means the case was dismissed and all charges were dropped.

There is no indication of this Sophia's age so treat it as interesting until we find out more.

The names that they have chosen for their children have a distinctly Scottish ring to them which suggests that Alexander may indeed had been a Scot. That's maybe not much help but it may be worth checking on Scotlandspeople for a birth (if after 1855) or marriage.

Ha been thinking along those lines as well. I think I have access to Scotlandspeople if I can find the link in the list.

Oh my now all you have to do is to pick the correct one. I think I might leave this for a while until you sort out the yays from the nays and then we can do some more.

This is a list of marriages for Alexander Pratt to a wife in Scotland. You are going to need to know his date of birth and when he was in Australia so you can rule out some of them. The actual image contains the parents name and father's occupation as well as witnesses.
And this is not helping with your Sophia Hewitt.


No Year Surname (M) Forename (M) Surname (F) Forename (F) District City/County/MR GROS Data
1 1862 PRATT ALEXANDER ANDERSON MARY CERES /FIFE 415/00 0005
2 1863 PRATT ALEXANDER BISHOP ELLEN NEWINGTON EDINBURGH/MIDLOTHIAN 685/05 0325
3 1861 PRATT ALEXANDER BREMNER JOAN CANONGATE EDINBURGH/MIDLOTHIAN 685/03 0013
4 1870 PRATT ALEXANDER BUTHLAY MARGARET PETERHEAD /ABERDEEN 232/00 0038
5 1857 PRATT ALEXANDER DOTT JANET DYSART /FIFE 426/00 0035
6 1862 PRATT ALEXANDER FERGUSON ELIZABETH FORDYCE /BANFF 153/00 0010
7 1861 PRATT ALEXANDER FORD ANN AUCHTERMUCHTY /FIFE 406/00 0002
8 1868 PRATT ALEXANDER FOWLIE ISABELLA DYCE /ABERDEEN 190/00 0006
9 1858 PRATT ALEXANDER HENDERSON ELIZABETH ST ANDREWS AND ST LEONARDS /FIFE 453/00 0026
10 1868 PRATT ALEXANDER HENDERSON HELEN MILLBREX /ABERDEEN 222/B0 0005
11 1863 PRATT ALEXANDER KAY JANET CUPAR /FIFE 420/00 0033
12 1860 PRATT ALEXANDER PATTISON MARGARET ANDERSTON GLASGOW/LANARK 644/08 0124
13 1863 PRATT ALEXANDER RINTOUL JEAN KENNOWAY /FIFE 434/00 0004
14 1866 PRATT ALEXANDER SMART AGNES CUPAR /FIFE 420/00 0004
15 1872 PRATT ALEXANDER SWANSON JANET BLYTHSWOOD GLASGOW/LANARK 644/06 0415
16 1856 PRATT ALEXANDER WOOD JOHANNA KILRENNY /FIFE 438/00 0004

PRATT SOPHIA - Not Available 08/12/1899
Detailed Information
Cemetery Anglican & General Cemetery Trusts

Area Anglican(AN)
Section 4
Row Not Available
Plot Not Available
Grave No. 0001430
Cemetery Address Hawthorne Ave, Rookwood NSW 2141
Cemetery Phone 02 9746 2177
Cemetery Fax 02 9764 2689
Cemetery E-Mail
Cemetery URL http://www.rookwoodcemetery.com.au

Ha, I knew it had to be somewhere!!

Confused

Found on PROV, Unassisted Inward Passenger Lists to Victoria 1852-1923 record of Sophia Hewitt

Family Name Hewitt
First Name Sophia
Age 21
Month Oct
Year 1865
Ship Duke of Newcastle
Port B
Fiche 251
Page 003

It was also listed on Index to Assisted British Immigration 1839-1871

Family Name Hewitt
First Name Sophia
Age 21
Month Oct
Year 1865
Ship Duke of Newcastle
Book 14
Page 331

Hi Everyone Very sorry for the late reply Yes Alexander Pratt came from Scotland, his fathers name was Alexander and Alexander's mother name is listed as Seymour Cameron Alexander Snr occupation is listed as an Architect and Alexander C Pratt was an engineer. We have traced him as a publican 1880 to 1890 at the Mount Vincent Hotel Hunter Valley NSW Australia but after that he seems to vanish we cannot find his death or if he and Sophia went on to be Publicans elsewhere.
Not to mention we can't find out a great deal about who his family was, in a newspaper record of a pub brawl there is a George Pratt mentioned as a farmer residing at Mount Vincent. To me it seems to much of a coincidence that there are 2 Pratts in a very small district so I wonder if they are related, again I can find no trace of the George Pratt (only the brief mention in the newspaper.
I have all these details from the marriage transcription but I do not have any access in the Scottish records if the person who thought they had access is able to help me I would be very grateful
Regards Amanda

Hi Everyone very sorry for the late reply, this is my second attempt I think I hit close button to soon and lost the reply before I submitted it.
Yes Alexander C Pratt was born in Scotland according to his marriage certificate, his father is listed as Alexander Pratt occupation Architect, mother's name Seymour Cameron
I have Alexander C Pratt as a Publican at the Mount Vincent Hotel (hunter Valley area NSW Australia) from 1880 to 1890 I cannot trace what happened him so I am unsure as to whether he went on to be a Publican elsewhere.
There is no mention of him on Sophia's death certificate (only the names of the children of marriage.
Under Conjugal Status - there is a blank
And I cannot find a death for Alexander C Pratt I wonder if he returned to Scotland
On Sophia death certificate it does say time in Colonies 28 years in NSW and 2 years in Victoria So I am assuming depending on how accurate the children's information was that she came to Australia approx 1869
I have also come across a George Pratt, residing at Mount Vincent occupation given as farmer Could this be a relative of Alexanders. For a small area it seems to much of a coincidence that there are 2 Pratts (don't you just love that name ) in the same area.
I do not have access to the Scottish records so if Aunty Sherlock is able to help that would be great.
Regards Amanda

Hi Amanda, Are you able to go through the info on the thread and work out what of it is yours.

Reference George what date did you find him? Have you tried the Australian electoral rolls for early 1900. They will show if the two are living in the same household.

I did not look for Alexander's parents marriage I will do that for you this evening. Thanks for his mother's name makes it easier.

What I did look for was a first marriage for Alexander before he left for Australia. This would have been why he did not marry Sophia until after the children were born. That is what the list of marriages is all about.

Also check out trudianne's info about Sophia's arrival in Australia. That is 1865 which makes sense given her first children were born in 1873 ish. We need to give her time to get her bearings in Oz, travel to NSW, meet Alexander, fall in love, and well you know!! Ah hopeless romantic I am.


I too searched for Alexander's death. Need to search Victorian records in case he travelled interstate.