Finding Mrs STROUD

Harriett CASTLE nee LEWIS stands as my only direct ancestor in Australia whose death I have been unable to find - one of my nagging challenges. I have literally tried everything including browsing BDM indexes and newspapers. It is possible her death was not registered (unlikely as every other family even was), or that the NSW BDM didn't index her death certificate, or didn't index it correctly. 

The only clues I have to the window in which she died was that her final children were twins who were born and died in 1872 (the last recorded reference I have found to Harriett), and that Isaac CASTLEs obituary in 1911 that stated Harriett had predeceased him 'by a lengthy period'.

Then in 2013 I came across an advertisement in Sydney, and a short article in a newspaper published in Orange NSW regarding a family member trying to trace Harriet:

Daily Telegraph
31 Mar 1914
CASTLE (Harriett), last head of in Bathurst, New South Wales, is sought by Aunt, Mrs. T. Stroud, 16 Robert Street, North Woolwich, Kent, England.

and then:

The Leader (Orange, NSW)
6 April 1914
MISSING FRIENDS FOUND
Recently in the Sydney "Evening News" (which paper publishes a list of missing friends) appears the following amongst the list:- "Castle, (Harriett) last heard of at Bathurst, Australia. Inquirer, aunt, Mrs. T. Stround, 16 Robert-street, North Woolwich." The lady inquired for turned out to be the mother of Mr. Jacob Castle, of Carcoar. She died about 25 years ago at Cowra, and Mr. Castle has now forwarded the information to England. "Jake" had no knowledge of his grand aunts existence.


This latter article sets a date for death of about 1890, but even this information hasn't yielded any likely deaths in the NSW BDM. Clearly the advert was published in multiple newspapers, but I am not clear on how this would have been arranged from England.

Who was Mrs. T. Stroud? The article clearly states that the enquirer was in England, where Harriett was born. Could Harriett Lewis, born in 1836, have an aunt still alive in 1914? It seems unlikely. 

Can we work out who Mrs. T .STROUD was, and what her relationship to Harriett was (if any)?

Identifying the connection to the aunt could have been tricky. Harriett's father John LEWIS (1799 East Hendred, Berks - 1866 Geelong, Vic) had eleven siblings all born in East or West Hendred, Berkshire. It is possible that Harriett never knew that after emigrating to NSW, her own father John emigrated to Victoria with his second wife and nine of his children, and died in poverty in Geelong, but the advertisement suggests Harriett had maintained family ties in England. Harriett's mother Dinah TABOR (1794 East Hendred, Berks - 1839 East Hendred, Berks) had five siblings, so there are plenty of candidates for an aunt! 

So, the advertisement was placed in 1914. The 1911 England census shows a married Thirza STROUD living with her family at 16 Robert-street, North Woolwich, as advertised. 

Now THIRZA was Harriett's mother's name! So there's something in this. Furthermore, Thirza STROUD states she is 56 (so born about 1855), married around 33 years, and was born in East Hendred, Berkshire! So clearly Thirza is younger than Harriett CASTLE nee LEWIS, but all the other pieces look strong.

1877 Marriage Solemnized in the Parish of Woolwich
19 May 1877
Alfred Henry Stroud, Bachelor, Labourer, of North Woolwich, father Daniel Stroud a labourer
Thirza Fisher, Spinster, of North Woolwich, father Charles Fisher a labourer

Tracing back through censuses shows that Thirza ('Thirsa') FISHER married Alfred Henry STROUD in Woolwich in 1877, and sure enough, the birth of a Thirza FISHER was registered in Wantage, Berkshire (the area covering East Hendred) in 1855. The 1861 census of East Hendred shows Thirza as one of MANY children to Charles Fisher (39, born Wantage) and Jane (40, born East Hendred). There was no obvious tie-back to the LEWIS family, but both Charles and Jane were born around 1821 - a little before Harriett LEWIS herself.

But looking one step further, the answer appears:

Registration Year: 1840 (Volume: 6, Page: 347)
Registration Quarter: Jan-Feb-Mar

Registration district: Wantage
Charles Fisher to Jane Tabourn

Now we have Thirza FISHER's mother as Jane nee TABOR, born about 1820 in East Hendred - of course, Harriett's mother was Dinah TABOR. 

In fact, prior to marrying John LEWIS on New Year's Eve of 1821, Dinah gave birth to Jane out of wedlock. Jane was baptized at East Hendred in March 1821, 'daughter of Dinah singlewoman'. As such, Jane was older step-sister to TWENTY younger half-siblings!!!!

So Jane's daughter Thirza, "Mrs. T. STROUD", was Harriett's niece, not aunt. It is possible that the letter/request forwarded to New South Wales newspapers may have confused that the fact that Thirza STROUD was looking for her aunt! It's nice to solve a distant family connection like this, and add some details to my family tree in the process.


The simple advert was one of thousands every year, as the tyranny of distance broke family connections. I wish there was even a single letter somewhere in my family as testament to the continued connection with 'home' (be it England or Ireland) that must have continued well into the 20th century. Thinking of all the letters that sailed back and forth to Australia, the lost connections that were never re-connected, and the wondering of family members that never learnt of family events on the other side of the world.