Charlotte Biddulph [1815-] Vicarstown, Queen’s County

Charlotte Biddulph was born on the 9^th of December,  1815, the ninth daughter and twelfth child of Francis Harrison Biddulph [1774-1827], Registrar of the Court of Exchequer, Dublin, and his wife, Mary Marsh.

Her death is not recorded in the General Register Office. Nothing more is known of Charlotte who may have died before registration of death became compulsory in 1864, or  may have emigrated like three of her sisters.

Sarah Nesbitt Biddulph [1814-1888], Vicarstown, Queen’s County

According to Burkes Landed Gentry of Ireland, 1912, Sarah Nesbitt Biddulph was born on the 11^th of  December 1814, the eighth daughter and eleventh child of Francis Harrison Biddulph [1774-1827] of Vicarstown, Queen’s County, Registrar of the Court of Exchequer, Dublin, and his wife Mary Marsh. It was recorded in Burkes that she went to Australia, information presumably supplied by a family member.

This birth date may, however, be incorrect.  Records in Australia suggest that Sarah’s birth date was later, possibly as late as 1824, or even 1830, though inaccuracies and variations in other records make it impossible to be sure.

What is certain is that Sarah emigrated to Australia in 1854 on the STAR OF THE EAST, a Clipper Ship sailing from Liverpool to Melbourne, as an unassisted passenger.  Her name on the passenger list was spelt Beddalph, her age was given as 24, and her estimated birth date was 1830. It seems likely from checking other names on the passenger list that she travelled with a group of friends, among them James Waller, Ralph Gore and Rachel Purefoy.

Until the early 1860s most emigrants left Liverpool on a sailing ship, and the voyage to

Australia would take about 3-4 months…Emigrating in a sailing ship could be unpleasant, particularly during a storm; it was only better in degree in the early days of steamships! [1]

However an article in the Illustrated Sydney News of 22 October 1853 describes the STAR OF THE EAST. ‘As a specimen of modern naval architecture, she is one of the finest vessels that has ever arrived in this port.’

On the other hand, a passenger travelling the same route in the same year, 1853, wrote:

I shall never want you to step your foot on board an emigrant ship, unless in the 1^st cabin, for all the places of iniquity my eyes ever beheld, an emigrant ship is the worst, men and women packed indiscriminately together, married couples and young girls, and I am sure  some of the girls will have cause  to remember the STAR OF THE EAST. Then the drinking and gambling, night and day, till your heart would fairly sicken at the sight.[2]

Sarah married William Day, a miner, from New York, on the 10^th of February, 1856, in Yackandandah, Victoria.  Gold had been discovered in Yackandandah four years earlier, in 1852, resulting in a gold rush which attracted many prospectors eager to make their fortunes.  For a time Yackandandah became a busy place. Although the gold rush ended a long time ago, it is still possible to obtain a prospector’s license and to pan for gold in Yackandandah.

They had two children, William b. 1857 and Sarah b. 1858. Their daughter, Sarah Day, married Francis Davidson in Sydney in 1880. A son, Francis Biddulph Davidson, was born in 1881.

Sarah Nesbitt Biddulph died in Raglan, New South Wales, in 1888.

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[1] https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/archive/sheet/12

[2] ^{http://www.old-merseytimes.co.uk/staroftheeast.html}

Jane Biddulph [1812-1900] of Vicarstown, Queen’s County

Jane Biddulph, sometimes found as Jane Beddulph, was born on the 8^th of May 1812. She was the sixth daughter and tenth child of Francis Harrison Biddulph [1774-1827] of Vicarstown, Queen’s County, and Mary Marsh.

She emigrated first to America, where she married George Priest from Norfolk, England, in New York in 1845. They then emigrated to Canada subsequently returning to Iowa, in America.

They had seven children, among them, a son, Samuel Joseph Priest [1847-1933] born in New York, Mary Elizabeth Priest, born in 1851 in Upper Canada, Jane Georgina [1852-1932],  and Sophia Salisbury[1854-1928] both born in Richmond Hill, Canada.

Samuel Joseph Priest [1847-1933] was married in 1875 in Davis, Iowa, to Mary McAtee. The marriage ended in divorce. They had been married for twenty five years and had one son Samuel J. Priest Jr. Samuel Joseph Priest is buried in Bloomfield IOOF Cemetery, Davis County, Iowa.

Mary Elizabeth Priest returned to the US from Canada along with the rest of her family in 1854, aged 3.  In 1875 she married John Osceola Games, a farmer. They had four children including Marsh Games born in 1880, who carried on the name of Jane Biddulph's mother Mary Marsh.

Jane Georgina married Charles Alden Spencer [1826-1884], a Mexican War Veteran according to his gravestone. They had three children. She died in Bloomfield, Iowa, USA. She was described as a housekeeper on her death certificate.

Sophia married E Bailey Cook in Davis, Iowa, in 1877. They had two daughters, Elizabeth and Jennie. Sophia died in Davenport, Scott, Iowa, USA, in 1928. She had been widowed twenty one years. She is buried with her husband in Oakdale Memorial Gardens, Davenport.

Jane Biddulph died on the 13^th of January 1900.  George Priest had died in 1889. They too are buried in Oakdale Memorial Gardens, Davenport. There is a photograph of Jane on findagrave. There is also an obituary from an unknown source where she is described as ‘a good woman, a good neighbor, gentle loving mother, loved her children sincerely, kind to the poor […] and lived up to her convictions of duty.’

William Francis Biddulph [1809-] of Vicarstown, Queen’s County

William Francis Biddulph, the third son and eighth child of Francis Harrison Biddulph [1774-1827] of Vicarstown, Queen’s County, and  his wife Mary Marsh, was born on the 1^st of March, 1809. He died young and is most likely to have been buried in Curaclone graveyard where his father and grandfather also lie. There is no gravestone.

Harriet Biddulph [1810-] of Vicarstown, Queen’s County

 

Harriet Biddulph was the sixth daughter and ninth child of Francis Harrison Biddulph [1774-1827] of Vicarstown, Queen’s County and his wife Mary Marsh. She emigrated to America, where she is also found as Harriet Bedolph. In 1848 she married Rowland McBride in Michigan. They had four children.

1. John Francis McBride [1846-1934]. He married Hannah Eliza Crane in 1878. They had four children, Jessie E., Glenn F., Ethelyn and Grace Eliza.
2. Mary McBride [1849-1918] who died in Chicago, Cook, Illinois.
3. Rowland McBride [1851-1879]
4. Charlotte Elizabeth McBride [1853-1912]

Harriet died in 1893 and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Muskegon, Michigan, USA. Mary, Rowland and Charlotte are also buried here.

Mary Biddulph [1803-1863], of Vicarstown

On the 10^th March 1801, a third daughter of Francis Harrison Biddulph of Vicarstown, and Mary Marsh was born. She was christened Mary after her mother.  She was not to survive, and died, aged only six months, on the 10^th of September 1801.

Her younger sister, the fourth daughter and the fifth child of Francis and Mary, her brother Francis Marsh Wellesley Biddulph having been born in the previous year, was born on the 16^th of September 1803. She was also christened Mary.

Mary Biddulph died on the 2^nd of April 1863 and is buried in Carrickbrennan Cemetery, Monkstown, County Dublin, with her mother, and her sister Caroline.

Frances Biddulph [1804- 1901] of Vicarstown, Queen's County

 Frances Biddulph was the fourth surviving daughter of Francis Harrison Biddulph [1774-1827] of Vicarstown, Registrar of the Court of Exchequer, and his wife Mary Marsh.

She married Mathew Meredith [1810-1869] of Killart, Clonaslee, Queen’s County, the son of Joseph Meredith, of Rearymore, Queen’s County, in St. Peter’s Church, Dublin on 14^th April 1847.  Frances gave 138 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin as her address.

They had four children.

1. Joseph Marsh Meredith [1848 – 1856]
2. Josephine Meredith b. 1839
3. Lois Elizabeth Meredith [1850 -1900]. She married Henry Fisher Gibson in 1871.

BIRTHS Dec 16, the lady of Mathew MEREDITH, Esq., of Killart, Queens County, of a daughter[1]

4. Frances Maria Biddulph Meredith [abt. 1853-1900]. She married James Stuart Talbot in 1872.

  Mathew Meredith died in 1869.  

 The Will of Matthew Meredith late of Kiltart Queen’s County, Esq. deceased who died 6 Sep 1869 at same place was proved at the Principal Registry by the oath of Frances Meredith of Kiltart, aforesaid widow, the sole executrix; effects under £1,500.[2]

Frances died on the 2^nd of February 1901 and is buried in Clonaslee, Queen's County.[3]

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[1]  Anglo-Celt Dec 19,1850  [http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/IRL-CAVAN/2003-10/1065296779]

[2]  Calendars of Wills & Admons - National Archives of Ireland, 4 Jul - kw.

[3]  http://irish-merediths.com/g1/p123.htm