Sperring Family from Chilcompton/Somerset/England
Has someone done the Sperring Family tree for this region - in particular looking for George and William Sperring, their parents, spouses and children ? I suspect my ancestress, Martha Sperring, to be the daughter of George along with her sister Eliza, but there is no documentation.
on 2015-05-18 17:55:13
lollyrock , from Born and raised in Adelaide South Australia. Now residing in New Zealand., has been a Family Tree Circles member since May 2015.
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There is more than one entry for William and George in Chilcompton. Can you provide approx dates of birth for All the people mentioned above
No, sorry I can't confirm any dates. Martha Sperring didn't put on her marriage certificate (April 1843 in Melbourne Victoria Australia) her parents' names, let alone their dates of birth. Could guess 1790's for father. Martha's sister had recently died, and so Martha was then the only descendant of her parents - whoever they were. Martha arrived in Melbourne in 1841 on the "Strathfieldsaye" at age 23, along with her younger sister Eliza, aged 20/21. I need a good sleuth! Census records in Somerset show a George Sperring and his wife Hester/Esther nee Taylor, as having two daughters, Martha and Eliza, born 1818 and 1820. It would seem that Esther might have died young, and also there are records that George was imprisoned. This would leave Martha and Eliza to fend for themselves - or perhaps be placed with their closest relatives. George had a brother William whose wife was called Sarah (according to what someone else has found out .. census or otherwise I don't know how he came by this information). Martha upon marriage to Thomas Pearse, native of Devon, produced many children, the first two being named George William, and Sarah Taylor. This is the only lead that looks rather promising ! I was rather hoping that there would be a family from Chilcompton with brothers George and William ... Family names thread through the generations, and there also seem to be a few Martha Sperrings in the census records.
Victoria, Australia, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists
Name: Martha Spearing
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1818
Age: 23
Arrival Date: 30 Aug 1841
Arrival Port: Port Phillip Bay, Australia
Ship: Strathfieldsaye
Nationality: English
Also listed Eliza age 22 both list native place as Bath.
Looks like calling is housemaids
Also looks like ( Difficult to read) the ships passengers are Bounty Immigrants from Shaftsbury Workhouse. Amount of bounty £19 each.
They might not show on the 1841 census because that was taken on 7 June 1841 ( Not sure how long the passage would have taken)
Bounty immigrants were free immigrants whose passage was paid by the colonial government under the `bounty scheme'. Under this scheme, an incentive or reward (i.e. bounty) was paid to recruiting agents in Britain to find suitable skilled labour and tradespeople, then ship them out to the new colony which urgently needed the working class people to do the manual labour in this new and untouched land.
Bounties were paid to the ships' masters for the safe delivery of their passengers under the scheme. The typical bounty was 19 pound ($38) for an adult and 5 pound for a child. Bounty for the amount of 4,956 pound was claimed for the agent, AB Smith & Co. of Sydney, for the safe and healthy arrival of the immigrants on the "England" in July 1841.
Under the `bounty scheme' newly married couples, or single men and women were given preference. Large families were rarely accepted. Selected immigrants were generally shepherds, ploughmen and agricultural labourers, with a lesser number of tradespeople such as brickmakers, carpenters, blacksmiths, tailors and needlewomen.
That is interesting information, about the Shaftsbury Workhouse, and the 'bounty scheme'. Yes, Martha and Eliza emigrated as "housemaids" - and I assume they had to work out a two year indenture. (except that Eliza died soon after arriving). Martha married Thomas Pearse two years after having arrived in Melbourne, and they became successful landowners and graziers on the south coast of Victoria. Indeed, the Cape Otway Lighthouse has a memorial cairn nearby to them. Martha stated that she had worked on Queen Victoria's wedding dress, and a family member still has the needle/crewel as stated in a familhy book put out about them. ("Southbeach Pioneers - The Pearse Family").
a George Sperring was born in Chilcompton, but a genealogy sleuther friend has him and wife Esther nee Tayler and two daughters, Martha b. 1818 and Eliza b. 1820, living in MIDSOMER NORTON. This is not that far away from BATH where Martha said she came from. As the sleuther said, for when relating where you came from: "most people wouldn't have a clue where Midsomer Norton was, but Bath is well known"