INTRODUCTION:FROM MILLER TO ROPE, THE MATRIARCHS

 INTRODUCTION

Beginning with Eliza Ann this series presents as much is as known of my direct maternal line, from Ardstraw, Ireland to Mudgee, NSW Australia.

The original research, which included birth, marriage, death, land and cemetery records, was undertaken by my mother, Madge Rups (nee Rope) in the 1970’s, 1980’s and 1990’s.  I have extended her work in an effort to view these women’s lives in context of what it may have been like for them at the time.

Before embarking on these stories I would first like to acknowledge the First Peoples of Australia and their elders past and present, especially the Mowgee clan of the Wiradjuri nation on whose country Eliza Ann and her family made their home. I would also like to acknowledge the devastation of Australia’s First Nations which was the result of British and other arrivals, especially the massacres that were part of the settlement of Mudgee with orders being given to shoot on sight, and honour those who fought and died to protect their land, especially Windradyne who led the defence of Mowgee land – Australia’s first wars.

The series includes,

Eliza Ann’s story

Mary Ann's story

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Mary Ann's story

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 Introduction and Contents Mary Ann is the third child of Eliza Ann and William Edward Carter, born on 17 th April 1846.  Whereas her older brother William George is born at Scone, Mary Ann and her sister Sarah Jane are born at Muswellbrook, so the family must have moved further south after Williams’ birth to settle in Muswellbrook for a while.  Mary Ann is baptised at Muswellbrook by Rev. William F Gore on 31st May 1846. In 1851 gold is discovered around Mudgee and the young family is on the move.   Mary Ann would have been six years old.   It appears as if, for the next three years, the family follows the gold from Grattai to Avisford to Maitland Bar until they arrive in Mudgee in 1854 and settle down.   Mary Ann is about eight years, Sarah Jane ten years and William George twelve years. By 1855 a public school is built in Perry Street, Mudgee. [1]   I wonder, as their mother can read and write and the family is living in the same street, if the children attend school, although
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Eliza Ann's story

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 Introduction and Contents Before embarking on this story I would first like to acknowledge the First Peoples of Australia and their elders past and present, especially the Mowgee clan of the Wiradjuri nation on whose country Eliza Ann and her family made their home. I would also like to acknowledge the devastation of Australia’s First Nations which was the result of British and other arrivals, especially the massacre of the Wiradjuri nation that was part of the settlement of Mudgee with orders being given to shoot on sight, and honour those who fought and died to protect their land, especially  Windradyne who led the defence of Mowgee land  – Australia’s first wars.   On 9 th August 1841 Eliza Ann Miller arrives in Sydney on the Cadet, having left Liverpool on 10 th March 1841 [1] .  The journey had taken five months, probably a little longer than normal as the ship had been blown off course off the Cape of Good Hope, ending up anchoring at Rio de Janeiro where it picked up a lar
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