Children of George and Sarah BLISS, Yass and surrounds NSW

I've decided to start an entry string on the children of George BLISS and Sarah nee FURRILL (and spelling variations). Here is a list of the children with the fundamentals. Like my HALL list of siblings, I hope to find photos and headstones for each.

1. Eliza Jane BLISS (1852-1925). Baptised at Murrimbidgee 1852, married William HALL (1843 Cambridge England - 1912 Koorawatha NSW) at Yass River (probably their farm) in 1868. Had 15 children in Yass NSW where they farmed on a property. The HALL and BLISS properties were adjacent to one another. Family moved to Koorawatha around 1900-3, perhaps due to drought. There she ran a store, and died 10 Jan 1925 aged 72. Eliza is buried 'back-to-back' with her husband William in Koorawatha cemetery. Have picture of her.

Grave of Eliza Jane HALL nee BLISS
Koorawatha Cemetery, NSW
In loving memory of
ELIZA HALL
Died 10 Jan 1924
Aged 78 years

2. William BLISS (1854 - ?). Born and baptised in 1854 at Boambolo, Murrumbidgee. Probably died as an infant as a second William was registered in 1857.

3. John BLISS (1856-1909). Born Blackrange (near modern day Canberra) in 1856. Died 1909, aged 52, at Euralie (Bliss farm), a 'farmer and intestate' according to probate announcement of 9 Sep 1911 in the Sydney Morning Herald. No marriage record is found, however death of a Hannah BLISS (NSW BDM 7379/1905) is registered in 1905, father John and mother Margaret. Buried at Yass Cemetery with his parents.

Grave of Henry BLISS

Yass Cemetery, NSW

In loving remembrance of

JOHN BLISS

Who Departed This Life 31st Oct 1909

Aged 52 Years

At Rest

Also

GEORGE BLISS

Died 3rd Nov 1915 Aged 96 Years

SARAH ANN

Wife of Above

Died 14th July 1919, Aged 87 Years

4. William BLISS (1857-1903). Birth registered in Yass in 1857. Only other information I have is that in 1878 Electoral Roll for NSW he was living at Devil's Pass, Yass (where the BLISS properties were situated). Death registered in 1903 in Queensland. Family (if any) not determined.

5. Joseph BLISS (1858-1927). Born Blackrange (near modern day Canberra) in 1858. Married Anne JACKSON (1872 Yass - 1946 Yass) in 1889 registered at Yass. They had at least 10 children from 1889 to 1915, all registered in Yass. One son (Claude Harwood Stanley BLISS) served in WW1. The youngest two sons of Joseph and Anne apparently changed their name ever-so-slightly to BLYSS after a family dispute. Joseph died in 1927, and Anne in 1946 (registered as BLYSS). Not determined where they are buried.

6. Susannah BLISS (1860-1934). Born Yass River (Bliss farm) in 1860. Married Edward George COBLE (1843 Camden NSW - 1923 Burrowa NSW) in 1884, registered at Goulburn. Susannah and Edward George share great grand-parents Michael FURRILL and Judea nee WATSON from Woodchurch, Kent. Susan(nah) and Edward had at least 11 children from 1879-1900 all born in the surrounding districts. Susan died in 1934 aged 74. Place of burial not known. Have picture of her.

7. Henry BLISS (1862-1897). Born Yass River (Bliss farm) in 1862. Died 189 aged 35. Bliss Yass Courier 24 Sep 1897: Mr Henry, son of George Bliss of Yass River, died Tuesday in Yass Hospital aged 35 years. Buried in Yass Cemetery, close to his parents.

Grave of Henry BLISS
Yass Cemetery, NSW
In loving memory of
HENRY
Beloved SonOf
George & Sarah Bliss
Died Sep 21st 1897
Aged 25 Years

8. Charles George BLISS (1864-1901). Born 1864 at Yass River, baptised Charles but registered as George (perhaps a NSW BDM transcription error?). Died 1901, registered as Charles in Granville (western Sydney) NSW. Buried in Anglican section MMM, Grave 143 at Rookwood Cemetery.

9. Judith or Julia Ann BLISS (1866-1951). Born 1866 at Yass River. Married Arthur Albert Hall (1851 Cambridge England - 1921 Narrandera NSW) in 1885 in Yass. They had 7 children from 1886-1897 registered mainly in Narrandera. She died died 3 May 1951 aged 81 years. Buried at Narrandera cemtery.

Grave of Arthur A. HALL and Julia A. nee BLISS

Narrandera cemetery, NSW

In loving memory of

Arthur A. Hall

Died Feb 10th 1921 Aged 71 Years

Frederick O. Hall

Died July 27th 1945 Aged 55 Years

Julia A. Hall

Died Mar 3rd 1951 Aged 81 Years

10. James Stephen BLISS (1870-1948). Born 1870 at Yass River. He married first Harriet Ellen Margaret OWEN (1878 Yass - 1905 Yass) in 1898, and had four children with her. After her death he married secondly Mary Ann GOWING (? - 1955 Junee NSW) in 1908 at Junee NSW. They also had four children. He died in 1948 at Junee.

11. Elizabeth Louisa BLISS (1872-1943). Born 1872 at Yass River. She married George Crew (1861 Bristol England - 1933 Canterbury NSW) at St Clements Church, Yass in 1891. They apparently met on Valentine's Day 1891, and hence their first son was named Valentine (1892-1969). They had 7 children, mainly in the Yass area, and later lived in Picton then Sydney. Elizabeth died in 1943, and is buried with her husband at Rookwood cemetery, Anglican section 12, Grave 498. My father visited this grave in May 2012, and found that the grave had no headstone.

12. Farrell BLISS (1874-1961). Born 1874 at Yass River, and named after his mother's maiden name (though misspelt from Furrill). He apparently inherited and ran the family farm 'Spring Valley' from his father. Married Rebecca PRIVETT (1880 Yass - 1967 Yass) in 1904. The couple had 10 children in Yass, including one son (Stanley) who enlisted in WW1 and one son (George Leonard Farrell) who was killed in PNG in WW2. Farrell died in 1961, and the couple are buried together at Yass cemetery. I have a photo of Farrell.

Grave of Farrell and Rebecca BLISS
Yass Cemetery, NSW
Sacred to the memory of
FARRELL BLISS
Passed Away
22nd Nov 1961
Aged 87 Years
REBECCA BLISS
Passed Away
18th Jan 1967
Aged 86 Years
At Rest

 13. Mary Jane BLISS (1880-1916). Born 1880 at Yass River. Married WIlliam ARMOUR (1874 Burrowa NSW - 1958 Bowning NSW) in 1899 at Yass. They had 6 children in Yass and Bowning. Mary Jane died in 1916, registered at Bowning, and buried at Bowning cemetery with her son.

Grave of Mary Jane ARMOUR nee BLISS
Bowning Cemetery, NSW
In loving memory of
MARY JANE ARMOUR
Died 17th October 1916
Aged 36 years
Also LINN EDWARD ARMOUR
Died 13th February 1915
Aged 3 years  

I am in interested in hearing from descendants of these BLISS children, including details, photos and headstones to add to this post. I count 68 grandchildren of George and Sarah BLISS so there should be plenty of descendants!!

Death Certificate of George Bliss, 1915

Jan Balfor obtained the deaeth certificate of George Bliss.

NSW Death Certificate
1915/016465

Date and place of death: 1915 3rd November, Euralie, Goodraigher(?) Shire
Name and occupation: George Bliss, Old age pensioner
Sex and age: Male, 96 years
Cause of death: "Senile decay accelerated by an accidental fall". Finding at inquiry held on November 1915, ?, Euralie, NSW
Name of father and occupation: Not known
Name and maiden name of mother: Not known
Informant: Farrell Bliss, Son, Euralie
Particulars of registration: 3rd November, Yass
When and where buried: 1915, 4th November, Church of England Cemetery, Yass
Name of undertaker: Edmund Pearce
Name and religion of minister: Y.OMinlon(?), Church of England
Witnesses of burial: G Newman, Robert Knox
Where born and how long in the Australasian colonies: Kent, England, 65 years in NSW
Place of marriage, age and to whom: Yass NSWales, 30 years, Sarah Ann Furrill

Children of marriage:
Eliza 64
Joseph 57
Susan 55
Juda A 47
Jame S 45
Elizabeth L 43
Farrell 41
Mary 35
living
4 males deceased

-------------

The certificate has a number of interesting points; George was in receipt of a pension, and died on his property at Euralie near Yass. His son Farrell reported the death, and was unaware of the name's of George's parents, though knew he was from Kent. George had actually been in Australia 75 years! Intrigingly, Farrell (sic) was named for his mothers maiden name of Furrill, though this was incorrectly recorded - despite this he spells his mothers name correctly on the certificate. Finally, Farrell reported a total of 12 children, though a 13th child is recorded on the NSW BDM - a William born in 1854 who must've died in infancy was probably not known to Farrell - a second William was recorded being born in 1857.

Eliza BLISS

The Hall family historian for a long time was Frank Hall (Francis Michael Hall, 1923 - 2005). Frank, Eliza BLISS' great grandson, wrote up an amazing family history (he visited England several times as part of this). Frank traced descendents everywhere in NSW and visited them, and in doing so Frank visited Joyce Schuberth nee Hodges. Frank wrote in 1987: "I met Joyce Schuberth at 13 Hilda Rd Baulkham Hills and she has a photo of Eliza Bliss (Eliza Hall) my great grandmother" and elsewhere "A photo of Eliza - held by Joyce Schuberth (Table 1, No 15) shows Eliza at about 65 years to be slightly plump, about 5'6" tall with sizable hands". Frank took a photo of the framed picture of Eliza (you can see his reflection in the glass), and as the Hall family members look after the family history now, this photo was scanned.

Here is the photo:

I tried to track down Joyce Schuberth last year, but believe she may have passed on (though there is nothing in the Ryerson index). Joyce was the daughter of Ethel May HALL (1896-1967) and William HODGES. Ethel May HALL was the 15th child of William HALL and Eliza BLISS.

Eliza's story, adapted from Frank's hadnwritten history:

ELIZA BLISS (1852-1925)
The eldest of twelve children born to George BLISS and Sarah Ann FURRILL was Eliza BLISS. Eliza was born on the family property at Yass River - Spring Creek, NSW on 3rd March 1852, formally baptized at St Clements C of E Yass on 5th November 1852 and married William HALL (born 1843 in Chersteron, Cambridge, England) on the Yass Rive property in 1868 at the age of 16 years. She signed her marriage certificate with an 'X'

All fifteen children born to William and Eliza were born at Yass River, the last in 1896. It is estimated about 1903 to 1907 William and Eliza moved to Koorawatha near Cowra, NSW with their younger children Edward, Walter, Cyril, Sarah and Ethel. Edward ran a general store and Eliza a fruit shop. William HALL had a stroke about 1908 and died in Cowra on 26th July 1912, and is buried head-to-head with Eliza at Koorawatha C of E cemetery. She died at Sacred Heart Hospital, Young on 10th January 1925, aged 73 years, of cirhossis of the liver. She is reported to have been a firm mother but loving, and must have been competent, for all 15 children reached maturity.

The Hall-Bliss connection

Norman Hall's tree 2 (of 4) shown down this page reveals that he was unsure of his grandfather's name, and unaware of his grandmother's name - they were William HALL and Elizsa Jane BLISS, married at St Clements C of E in Yass in 1868. While Norman knew little of his paternal heritage, his newphew Frank Hall determined a great deal about the BLISS and HALL family connections.

I was contacted by a member of the BLISS family this week and wrote an e-mail to them that I've used as the basis of this entry.

My ancestor William HALL (b. Chesterton Cambridge 1843, arrived Australia 1857 on the Boanerges with his parents and two borthers, died 1912 Koorawatha NSW) married Eliza Jane BLISS. I believe Eliza Jane BLISS is the eldest daughter of George Henry BLISS and Sarah Ann FURRILL. My info indicates that Eliza Jane BLISS was born in 1852. I’ve not got the birth certificate yet, though it’s not registered at Yass as most are - though at their marriage George Bliss states he is of the Parish of Mullion Forest, so it’s possible they lived closer to another place of registration. Eliza BLISS died in Young, NSW in 1925, after she and William HALL had 15 children, all of whom seem to have survived adolescence! My great grandfather Alfred Ernest HALL was among them.

The HALL family settled in Yass after they arrived in Australia in 1857, and their farming property(ies) abutted those of the BLISS family properties. I have a copy of an old property map (shown below) that Frank Hall turned up 20 years ago showing the BLISS and HALL properties on the Yass River.


Original caption by Frank Hall: 'Location of properties. Take Good Hope Rd out of Yass (not Wee Jasper Rd) some 10 km turn right into Glenroy Rd and follow track keeping left at Glenroy. The Good Hope Rd is between ? down to a holiday camping ground. Euralie also is off the Good Hope Rd.'

While unfortunately the combination of pen marks and photocopying obscures the property names, the three lower highlighted properties are marked 'George Bliss' (2) and 'Susan Bliss' (1), along with the topmost property owned by George Bliss. The three properties in the centre that hug the bend in the river are owned by 'William Hall'. This proximity explains (to some degree) the multiple Hall-Bliss pairings. The area was known as Devil's Pass.

Note the Hume properties nearby (related to Hamilton Hume who opened up the area - http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010527b.htm).

William COBLE and his wife Mary Ann nee DITTON were witnesses at the marriage of George BLISS and Sarah Ann FURRILL at St Clements Church, yass, in 1850. Mary Ann DITTON was born in 1825 at Woodchurch, Kent, England. She was the daughter of Robert DITTON and Drucilla FURRILL. Drucilla FURRILL was the sister of Sarah Ann's father William FURRILL, and Mary Ann DITTON travelled to Australia from Kent with the FURRILL family on the Westminster in 1838. So Mary Ann COBLE nee DITTON was the cousin of Sarah Ann BLISS nee FURRILL. Clearly properties were tied by more then geography.

To further reinforce these family connections, William HALL’s brother Arthur Albert HALL (b. 1851 Barnwell, Cambridgeshire, England, d. 1921 Nerrandera NSW) came to Australia with the family in 1857 (he was 7 at the time). He married Eliza Jane Bliss’ sister (9th of 13 I believe) Judith (or Julia Ann) BLISS, in 1885 at St Clements C of E, Yass, NSW (20 years after her older sister married at the same place)!

So two HALL brothers in Yass married two BLISS sisters from the adjoining property.

Frank Hall put together information on the BLISS family - if he made copies of transcripts when visiting town in the UK, we do not have them, however being a scientist he always sighted originals before believing anything. I also confirm everything prior to entering it into my GED or posting it here.

Frank's notes on the BLISS family in England are:

"John BLISS and his wife Mary lived in Rochester, Kent, UK and had 4 sons, including John Edward, George (1818-1915) and William Samuel. It is possible that he only, or both of them, emigrated to U.S.A. leaving son George in England almost as a young orphan. This could account for George having trouble with the law in England before arriving in Australia as a convict in 1839 and then settling down to become a worthy Australian.

George BLISS was born Rochester, Kent in 1819. He had several confrontations with the law in England before being deported to Australia as a convict. He was given a life sentence at Maidstone Kent on 3-1-1839 for stealing beef and sailed from Sheerness (Scotland) on 15-5-1839 on PARKFIELD arriving Sydney on 1-9-1839. He obviously behaved himself in Australia for he was granted a provisional pardon in 1854 by Governor Fitzroy. However, as was normal, the pardon did not apply to Great Britain meaning he could never return to his homeland even though he was a free man in Australia. George was 5' 3" tall with dark brown hair, sallow complexion and brown eyes. On 15-7-1850 George married Sarah Ann FURRILL at St Clements C of E Yass - actually on the Yass River property - with neighbours, the Coble family - as witnesses.

I assume Cobles & Bliss were neighbours at Spring Creek before the Hall's arrived in Australia (1857) for a property shown as Susan BLISS on the above map apparently belonged to the COBLE's because Susan married a COBLE. I guess George BLISS sold his holdings about the same time as the HALL family, and wheras the HALL family moved to Koorawatha, some of the BLISS family went to Narrandera. But George BLISS (died 1915, Yass, aged 96) and Sarah Ann FURRIL (died 1919, 'Euralie', Yass, aged 87) must have remained nearby their old property for both died at 'Euralie', a nearby property owned at the time by F.W. HUME, a brother of Hamilton HUME.

George died of senile decay, accelerated by a fall from a horse, no 3-11-1915, aged 96 years. Sarah died on senility on 14-7-1919 aged 87 years. Both are buried in the C of E cemetery, Yass. I assume both George and Sarah were God-fearing folk because all their children were baptized at St Clements C of E Yass (officially that is)."

-------

I'll look into property records I have access to on-line to determine the property ownership.

William Furrell or Furrill?

A post on ancestry as I try to piece together the Furrill family. Sarah Ann Furrell married George Henry Bliss, a convict from Kent, England, in Yass NSW in 1850.

"Seeking descendents or knowledge of William FURRELL/FURRILL who was born in Kent, England around 1811, and married Susan Ann Percival there in 1834. They embarked for Australia on the Westminster (which left from Gravesend, Kent apparently) on 26th March 1838. They arrived in Sydney on 27 June 1838, William describing himself as a farm labourer age 26, with his wife aged 30. They brought at least one child with them, Sarah Ann FURRILL, born 1835 in Kent.

On arrival, William, Susan and whatever family they had located to Yass, NSW (a journey of 280 km!), and Susan died just a year later.

Their daughter Satah Ann FURRILL married George Bliss in 1850 in Yass (transcribed at the NSW BDM site as George BLESS and Sarah FARRELL) at St Clements Church, and two years later in 1852 William FURRELL married for a second time, to Ann Foley (transcribed in the NSW BDM site as William FARRIL and Ann FOLEY).

I've found one potential offspring born in Australia:
V18391245 23A/1839 FARRELL, STEPHEN f: WILLIAM m: SUSAN
, but none to his second marriage to William's second marriage, nor have I uncovered the date/location of William's death."