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Trying to find relatives of Ellen Bunnage who died in Maryborough, Queensland, Australia in May 1878. She wrote to her family in England in the March but the letter had no address. The letter was donated to the Maryborough Historical Society but I do not know the relatives contact details. Ellen Bunnage was married to Michael O'Hara. Married in Maryborough Queensland. Probably born in UK.
Ellen Bunnage died aged 26 in 1878. Her March 1878 letter was to her parents (addressed Dear Mother and father) telling them about the death of her two children in Feb.1878 and sending the family "the likenesses [of the children] and one for Aunt Ann".
Queensland death certificate list Ellen Bunnage's parents as Joseph Bunnage and Sarah Basley

Who was the letter addressed to? How old was Ellen when she died? Was she born in the UK or Aus?

This is the only Ellen Bunnage pre-1878 that shows on ancestry (haven't yet checked for mis-spellings!)

about Ellen Bunnage
Name: Ellen Bunnage
Age: 12
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1839
Relation: Daughter
Mother's Name: Charlotte
Gender: Female
Where born: Luton, Bedfordshire, England

Civil Parish: Luton
County/Island: Bedfordshire
Country: England

Street address:

Occupation:

Condition as to marriage:

Disability: View Image

Registration district: Luton
Sub-registration district: Dunstable
ED, institution, or vessel: 4o
Neighbors: View others on page
Household schedule number: 132
Household Members: Name Age
Ellen Bunnage 12
Emma Bunnage 12
Harriot Bunnage 3
Mary Ann Bunnage 4
William Bunnage 10
Charlotte Burrage 34




Were any of these names mentioned in the letter or in the address?



sylvia

Did she say Dear xxxxxx

If so, what was that name?


Where did she marry Michael O'Hara?? Australia or UK or elsewhere?

When did she leave the UK?

Have you any idea how old she was when she died?

Have you got her death certificate? Does that give any information?



sylvia

Hi Lew,
I amended my entry as you suggested. Contacted the Maryborough Historical Society who hold the letter about the donation source. Still awaiting a reply.
Thanks from Katherine

Hi Sylvia,
Still no further advanced on my search for Ellen Bunnage. She was 28 when she died in Maryborough Queensland Australia. I cannot even find an entry record into the country. She most probably came out as a young servant to a wealthy family. If she came as a maid they seemed to be treated like the luggage, and often didn't get on the immigration radar. Australia didn't become a county in it's own right until 1901.
Thanks from Katherine

Have you purchased the marriage certificate from Qld BMD. It may have some additional information.

Reg No. & Year: 1875/C000407
Bridge: Bunnage, Ellen Mary
Groom: Michael O'Hara

Can't find anything on the 1851, 1861 or 1871 UK censuses that makes any sense!


sylvia

Hi Lew,
Will try to get copy of govt marriage certifcate. Have tried for, but all the local Maryborough church records were lost / washed away in the disasterous Queensland floods of 1893. Brisbane was devasted by the same floods. Regards, Katherine

Hi Sylvia,
Many thanks for checking the census. I don't have access to them. Still awaiting reply from Maryborough Historical Society regarding donation source of Ellen's letter, may give me a clue to location in England.
THanks, Katherine

Suzi Wong,
Thank you for checking the marriage records for me. It could be possible that Joseph Bunnage and Sarah Basley were not married. Although the O'Hara side were strict RC's, it dosen't mean that the Bunnage family were. My source of information re Ellen Bunnage's parents was her buriel register in Maryborough Queensland. Regards, Katherine

There are some interesting Bunnage children in the 1861 census:


Name: Elizabeth Bennage (it says Bunnage)
Age: 8
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1853
Relation: Inmate
Gender: Female
Where born: N

Name: William Bunnage
Age: 10
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1851
Relation: Inmate
Gender: Male
Where born: Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England

Name: Thomas Bunnage
Age: 8
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1853
Relation: Inmate
Gender: Male
Where born: London, England


Civil Parish: Hitchin
Town: Hitchin
County/Island: Hertfordshire
Country: England

Registration district: Hitchin
Sub-registration district: Hitchin
ED, institution, or vessel: Union Workhouse Hitchin


Children in that situation were not necessarily orphans; their parent or parents could have been unable to care for them.

And they would have been prime candidates for being child migrants -- "Home Children" -- sent mainly to Canada and Australia, ostensibly for adoption but usually ending up as domestic or farm labourers.

We have a searchable (though incomplete) on-line database of child migrants in Canada. I don't believe there is a similar facility for Australia.

On a quick check of 1871, I don't see that William Bunnage, but an Elizabeth born c1850 could be that Elizabeth.

There are two Bunnages in the child migrants database for Canada:

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/archivianet/home-children/001015-100.01-e.php

but both are later.

Just some musings for the moment.

If Ellen's parents weren't married when she was born:

Name: Ellen Basley
Year of Registration: 1852
Quarter of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec
District: Liverpool (1837-1934)
County: Lancashire
Volume: 8b
Page: 1

In the same place as the children in the workhouse, in 1861:


Name: Joseph Bunnage
Age: 28
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1833
Relation: Son
Mother's Name: Ann
Gender: Male
Where born: Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England

Civil Parish: Stevenage
County/Island: Hertfordshire
Country: England

Registration district: Hitchin
Sub-registration district: Baldock
ED, institution, or vessel: 15
Household schedule number: 69

Ann Bunnage 63
John Bunnage 44
George Bunnage 42
William Bunnage 36
Hannah Bunnage 31
Joseph Bunnage 28
James Bunnage 10 - grandson:

Name: James Bunnage
Age: 10
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1851
Relation: Grandson
Father's Name: Joseph
Gender: Male
Where born: Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England


All unmarried children of widowed mother, no indication of whose child the grandson is.

The same family is transcribed as Bromage in 1871.

Look what I've found:


Marriages Sep 1855
BUNNAGE Joseph Caxton 3b 673
BUNNEG Joseph Caxton 3b 673 (originally mistranscribed?)
Daiseley Sarah Caxton 3b 673


DAISELEY, Basley ... pretty surely.

Caxton is in Cambridgeshire, FreeBMD says.

This is the only death that's any match for Joseph:


Name: Joseph Bunnage
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1833
Year of Registration: 1910
Quarter of Registration: Jul-Aug-Sep
Age at Death: 77
District: Linton
County: Cambridgeshire, Essex
Volume: 3b
Page: 225


Every single Daiseley birth in the GRO is in Caxton.

1851:


Name: Sarah Daisley
Age: 14
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1837
Relation: Daughter
Father's Name: Edward
Mother's Name: Esther
Gender: Female
Where born: Potton, Bedfordshire, England

Civil Parish: Gamlingay
County/Island: Cambridgeshire
Country: England

Registration district: Caxton
Sub-registration district: Caxton
ED, institution, or vessel: 1d
Household schedule number: 21

Ann Daisley 12 <<< Aunt Ann?
Edward Daisley 35
Elizabeth Daisley 10
Esther Daisley 34
Fanny Daisley 4 Mo
John Daisley 4
Mary Daisley 3
Sarah Daisley 14
Susanna Daisley 6

1871:


Name: Joseph Bunnez -- it says Bunneg
Age: 38
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1833
Relation: Foreman
Gender: Male
Where born: Gaudingay, Cambridgeshire, England

Civil Parish: Duxford
Ecclesiastical parish: St John and St Peter
Town: Duxford
County/Island: Cambridgeshire
Country: England

Condition as to marriage: Married

Registration district: Linton
Sub-registration district: Duxford
ED, institution, or vessel: 1
Household schedule number: 213

Emily Blackwill 12
Joseph Bunnez 38
Ellen Hall 16
Maria Hodson 21
Gertrude H Jackson 5 mo
Sarah Jackson 29
Thomas Jackson 31 - head, merchant and innkeeper
Emily Rayner 19
Joseph Russell 28

Joseph seems to have been a travelling man; I'm going to bet this was him in 1861:


Name: Joseph Buney
Age: 28
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1833
Relation: Lodger
Gender: Male
Where born: Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire, England

Civil Parish: Islington
Ecclesiastical parish: All Saints
County/Island: Middlesex
Country: England

Occupation: Bricklayer's labourer
Condition as to marriage: Married

Registration district: Islington
Sub-registration district: Islington West
ED, institution, or vessel: 50
Household schedule number: 100

Joseph Buney 28
Emma Chapman 33
Leonard Chapman 33

Just at a loss for finding Sarah, though, in any census.


Oh, finally -- 1881:


Name: Sarah Bunnage
Age: 46
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1835
Relation: Wife
Spouse's Name: Joseph
Gender: Female
Where born: Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire, England

Name: Joseph Bunnage
Age: 47
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1834
Relation: Head
Spouse's Name: Sarah
Gender: Male
Where born: Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire, England
Condition as to marriage: Married
Occupation: Agl Labr

Street address: Elmdon Road Cottages

Registration district: Linton
Sub-registration district: Duxford

Civil Parish: Ickleton
County/Island: Cambridgeshire
Country: England

Registration district: Linton
Sub-registration district: Duxford
ED, institution, or vessel: 2

Edward Bunnage 13
Elizabeth Bunnage 23
Ellen Bunnage 5
Fanny Bunnage 7
Frederick Bunnage 3
James Bunnage 17
John Bunnage 9
Joseph Bunnage 47
Sarah Bunnage 46
Walter Bunnage 15
William Bunnage 21


But there is a 5-yr-old Ellen!!!!

I'd say: named in memory of your Ellen, but the timing's wrong:


Name: Ellen Bunnage
Year of Registration: 1876
Quarter of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar
District: Linton
County: Cambridgeshire, Essex
Volume: 3b
Page: 546


But that birth cert might at least establish whether these are the parents in question.