Whilst researching my Robson family, miners from Wallsend and Newcastle Upon Tyne, Northumberland, I came across the Russell Wallsend Mine disaster which occurred on 23 October 1821, nearly 200 years ago. It took quite some time to piece together the history of the Robson family and in this quest I had an amazing collaboration with Sandy Murray, another Robson family researcher. It was Sandy who showed me how to find the Bishop’s Transcripts from Durham and Northumberland from FamilySearch.org, a …

George Edwin Wise (1850-1933) was my paternal Great Grandfather, the maternal grandfather of my father Reginald George Robson (1915-1980). George was born in Cork, Ireland on 22 October 1850, just a year before his family migrated to Australia in 1851. It is thought that business opportunities in a new land was the reason for the family migration at a time when Ireland was in the midst of the potato famine which caused a depression, increased crime and religious rioting. For …

Annie Robertson Kippax was my great grandmother, who married William Robson M.L.C. She was given the middle name Robertson and when I collected her death record I felt that it was probable that her mother’s maiden name was Robertson. I had never heard of the Robertson name in our family before my research into the family tree in 2011. Australia Death Index, 1787-1985: Name Annie R Robson Death Date 1920 Death Place New South Wales Father’s Name William Mother’s Name …

Wise Merchants of Cork Family stories were handed down through the generations about our Wise family from Ireland. My father, Reginald George Robson thought that his grandfather George Edwin Wise was a native of Waterford and indeed several 1930 newspaper obituaries mention this fact. The newspapers however, were not correct, as George Edwin Wise was born in Cork, just a few months before his family migrated to Australia in 1851. George Edwin Wise, the son of William McOboy Wise and …

My Great-grandfather, William Robson (1816-1920) Jnr. was the son of William Robson Snr. (1817-1888) and Ann Veitch (1816-1853). He was a staunch Methodist, like his father and he became a Reverend in the Methodist Church, shortly before his marriage to Annie Robertson Kippax. I am sure that William met Annie in Sydney when he was attending Methodist gatherings and conferences. Reverend William Robson, J.P., M.L.C. Annie’s father William Henry Kippax was also a staunch Methodist and a Sydney City Councillor …

My early family research had uncovered that William Robson, my great grandfather had married Annie Robertson Kippax, and this quickly led to the discovery of Annie’s parents as William Henry Kippax born on 29 March 1827 in Windsor, New South Wales and Elizabeth Whitton Robertson born about 1833 in Dundee, Scotland. The Robson Family of Wollongong are another family chapter that I have written up previously. Another chapter will deal with The Robertson Family of Dundee. The name Kippax was …

The Wise branch of the family was amongst my earliest research endeavours. My paternal grandmother was Mabel Wise who was married to William Elliott Veitch Robson. Mabel died at Waverley Nursing home on 18 Sep 1971. I can clearly remember a phone call from my dad, Reginald George Robson, telling me that Granny Mabel had passed away. My sister, Lavinia Chrystal and I were at a skiing camp called Valhalla, down at Perisher Valley during the September school holidays, and …

This family chapter takes many Murray family members who migrated to Australia, back to Ireland, to correctly place them into their townships and homes in County Limerick. It includes the famous Murray family of Yarralumla and continues the story of the Wise family of Cork whose ancestor, George Edwin Wise, son of Ellen Frances Matilda Murray, founded the Western Stores of New South Wales, later to become Farmers Department Stores, Grace Bros. and now Myers. I had a lot of …