Edward Reynolds

http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/r/e/y/Brian-Reynolds-New... From Brian Reynolds

His parents had presented him with a bible a week before he sailed, and this is now in my possession. It contains a number of entries of births etc., which Edward had written as well as those added later by his son. The latest entry referred to the death of this son Charles Harry Reynolds in Sydney on 3 April 1932,probably by Charles' widow, Margaret.

In 1877 he was a witness at the marriage of his daughter Fanny, to Mark Parslow at the home of a minister of the Primitive Methodist Church, at Brisbane. It appears that Fanny & Mark moved further north, with Mark dying at Townsville in 1890. Their 11 year old daughter Francis Eliz. died next in 1891, also at Townsville.

His son Charles Harry Reynolds, with whom I assume he was working in the carpentry business, was next to marry in 1884 but the ceremony took place in Glebe, a suburb of Sydney. The bride was Margaret May Bailey, daughter of Michael Bailey, a shoemaker of Maitland.

By 1893, Charles & family had returned to Sydney, living at Erskineville. I believe that there had been financial problems in Toowong and times were generally tough in the Queensland colony. Edward may have been partly to blame for their difficulties.

There is no evidence that Edward actually lived with them in Erskineville, but I think he was living in Sydney for a spell, before going back to Toowong. Street directories show two E. Reynolds residing at Brisbane until about 1900. No entry has been found of a death entry up to 1910? and none of the descendants of his daughter in Queensland whom I contacted has any knowledge of him. But they certainly knew of the existence of the branch of the family headed by his son Charles Harry Reynolds at Erskineville.

This was proved by Harry Smallwood with whom I stayed for several days at Caloundra. He distinctly remembered calling at Erskineville to see his uncle Charles around 1930. Another cousin, Pauline, who was raised by Charles, remembered seeing, at Erskineville, a wedding photo from Queensland which would have probably been of Francis, a daughter of Fanny Reynolds. So at one time the two branches had remained in contact.

It is of course possible that he may have returned to England just prior to 1900. His father Henry Reynolds had died at Newbury, Berkshire in 1871 according to an entry in the bible so he must have had some contact with his only brother, also called Henry, back in London. Both brothers were named as executors in their father's will, but only Henry had acted in that capacity. Perhaps Edward may have returned to claim his share of a small inheritance.

Whatever the reason for his disappearance I think he would have been a lonely old man. He did not remarry, his daughter was living far north in Cairns, whilst his son was down in Sydney. It has been suggested that he may have had a problem in England with his parents, who were said to operate an inn at the time he migrated to Australia. It has further been said that drinking could have had a bearing on the collapse of the carpentry business he ran with his son in Brisbane.

I personally tend to believe that he returned to England to die in his native land.

On 18 Nov 1999, however, I managed to obtain Edward's death certificate, which changes the story dramatically. He had in fact remarried to a Mary Ann Austin in Sydney around 1875. She was the informant on the death certificate & Edward appears to have died at his residence in Walton Street, South Brisbane aged 77. The death certificate lists Charles & Fanny as his surviving children, but shows none from the second marriage, which seems odd.

His occupation was shown as builder. I had seen both a builder & a carpenter listed in the street directories, one in Walton Street and the other in_Boggo Road? and had assumed they were two different people. Now it appears theBoggo Road address may have been the workshop.

Further information now shows that Edward did not marry Mary Ann, she was known as his wife but her death certificate and burial notice are in the name of Place.