Eliza Maria Richardson

BIRTH & BAPTISM Eliza Mc Vay Gender: Female Birth Date: 22 May 1820 Baptism Date: 25 May 1820 Baptism Place: Roman Catholic,Richmond Near Leyburn,York,England Father: Richard Mc Vay Mother: Margaret FHL Film Number: 0828153 (RG4 2194), 0828153 (RG4 2751) Household Members: Name Age Richard Mc Vay Margaret Eliza Mc Vay

Name: Eliza Mc Vay Birth Date: 22 May 1820 Event Type: Baptism Father: Richard Mc Vay Mother: Margaret Mc Vay Baptism Date: 25 May 1820 Baptism Place: Richmond, Yorkshire, England Denomination: Catholic Piece Title: Piece 2816: Richmond (Catholic), 1814-1840

The above are from Ancestry and clearly state the baptism was catholic. See docs

From Find My Past First name(s) Eliza Last name McVay Birth year 1820 Birth date 22 May 1820 Baptism year 1820 Baptism date 25 May 1820 Place Richmond Denomination Roman Catholic Father's first name(s) Richard Mother's first name(s) Margaret County Yorkshire Country England The National Archives reference TNA/RG/4/2751 Description YORKSHIRE: Richmond (Catholic): Births & Baptisms. Folios 1-37

May 25th 1820: Eliza McVay Daughter of Richard and Margaret McVay born May 22d & baptised by me May 25th. Sponsors } Richard Harker and Mary Petch. Robert Johnson See docs

Note that Eliza was baptised with only one personal name, and the family name is consistently McVay rather than MacVay. All versions name her mother as Margaret rather than Mary (Laing) presumably because Robert Johnson got her name wrong. Since they seem to be catholic, Maria might have been added as her saints name at confirmation. Just a guess.

There are two original documents for Eliza's birth, first the church register of her baptism, as above, which does not have the name of the church on it, or its denomination; second, the Bishop's transcripts, which is a list of baptisms in the parish, annually returned to the Archbishop of Chester. The Bishop's return simply lists the details from the baptism register and provides them in a table including, date of birth & date of baptism (born 22 May, baptised 25 May, name (Eliza, not Eliza Maria), parents (Richard & Margaret), surname (McVay), place (Richmond), sponsors (Richard Harker & Mary Petch), by whom (Robert Johnson). The findmypast transcript clearly identifies this one as Richmond (Catholic) Births and Baptisms, but I don't know on what basis. Very confusing. Was the Anglican diocese provided with returns of non Anglican births & baptisms? There is no later evidence that these McVays were anything but Anglican, unless the family was in the process of conversion from Catholic. Barnard and Mary McVay, Eliza's grandparents did convert from Catholic to Anglican in 1803, and registered their three youngest children Anglican. Richard as the eldest was not registered and there is the possibility that he considered himself Catholic, even though he was married in an Anglican church and was a Free Mason at Richmond. findmypast says it is making Catholic BDMs available in co-operation with church authorities, and has begun with Westminster. Yorkshire is not done, so until it is there is no chance of double checking the denomination of the baptism for Eliza.

Leyburn is a market town and civil parish in the district of Richmondshire, North Yorkshire, England, sitting above the northern bank of the River Ure in Wensleydale. Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, the name was derived from 'Ley' or 'Le' (clearing), and 'burn' (stream), meaning clearing by the stream. Richmond The first of all Richmonds of the world. A beautiful Yorkshire Dales market town, with Norman castle, Georgian architecture, a large cobbled market place, with museums and monuments, the fast flowing river Swale and magnificent views and scenery.

I have finally sorted Eliza's origins. I was led astray by the name given for her mother, and the claim in Family Search that the baptism was non-conformist or Catholic. There was no Margaret McVay in Richmond, in the North Riding or in Yorkshire at that time, and no Richard McVay married a woman named Margaret, so the minister got the name wrong in the baptisms register. Richard McVay, born Osmotherley in 1793 married Mary Laing born 1797, at Guisborough (between Osmotherley and Richmond) in 1819 and Eliza was born in 1820 at Leyburn, baptised Richmond. They had three children, Eliza and two sons named James and Richard Laing McVay. The marriage is from the Anglican St Nicholas church Guisborough and confirmed in the Bishop's transcripts. Richard is a "stonecutter". All these towns and villages are a short distance from each other.

Eliza was confusingly baptised Non-conformist or Catholic, Family Search proposed. The transcripts for the Archbishop of Chester seem to make it clear that Eliza was baptised in the Anglican church of St Mary the Virgin in Richmond. Or, did the Anglican bishop get returns of nonconformist and Catholic baptisms as well as Anglican ones?

This is the only possible birth for our Eliza Maria. There is no evidence for the Maria part of her name, because she was born & baptised plain Eliza, and seems to have added Maria for her marriage, and not used it since. Perhaps a saints name given at catholic confirmation. I have now filled the McVays back some generations. I can conclude that they seem to have become a well established North Riding family in Yorkshire, that the first Barnard was possibly Irish, possibly an ex soldier or sailor, and they have married across a fairly small span of the North Riding. They began Catholic, but the records show Barnard II and Mary converting to Anglican in 1803. The McVays of Osmotherley are now better represented since I found Eliza's grandfather, Barnard II. The women less so. Eliza was born into a family of the new rising middle class of independent tradesmen, professionals, office workers and service providers, rather than the industrial working class of the textile industry and railways. Her father was a mason, and relatives ranged from Uncle Barnard the affluent auctioneer, to Charles the very famous maker of pianofortes in London, and John and William who were a master shoemaker, coach builder, inn keeper, and shop keeper. They are also active in local politics, sport, and charitable activities. She has cousins who are rising men in local government, business, financial services, and trades. Not a helpful background for a very young woman going to early NZ or Australia without the insulation of money and family.

Mary, Eliza's mother died in 1825 at the birth of Richard Laing, when Eliza was just 5 years old, and brother James was 2 yrs. James and Richard apparently went to live at Guisborough with his Laing relations, and it is very probable that little Eliza went there too. Richard remarried in 1830 to Jane Banks. Because there was no census before 1841, we cannot know if the children returned to live with Richard and his new wife, or stayed with Mary's family. James died at Guisborough so it seems likely that he continued there. Eliza went on to marry very young in East Sussex, at the other end of the country. Goodness knows how that came about. I suspect the second marriage was not a happy one for the children. I cannot find that Richard and Jane had children.

MARRIAGE 1841, Eliza age 19 yrs, married James Robert Richardson age 20 yrs, in Brede, Sussex, May/June 1841 Reg Rye, Vol 7, P585. If the birth date is correct she would have been 21 yrs old at marriage, and not needing parental permission. It is entirely unclear how these two met from opposite ends of England. For a respectable young unmarried woman, still a teenager, to travel the length of England alone, was unheard of. The railways had barely begun, and she would have had to travel for weeks by either canal boat or coach, or a combination of the two. Canal travel from Yorkshire would have been easier and cheaper than coach, but slower. We need to imagine James Robert going north for some reason, and meeting her in Yorkshire, or she accompanied a family member south and stayed in East Sussex long enough to get to know James Robert. Did she work in one of the seaside towns where the gentry spent the 'Brighton Season', was she there on holiday, or companion to a sick relative recovering beside the sea in a warmer climate than Yorkshire? No way to know, except that it was very unusual for any but the gentry and aristocracy who could meet at the 'London Season', to marry over such long distances. Her family could probably afford a holiday in the south, or to send a sick relative to convalesce. Since they married in Sussex, rather than Eliza's home parish as was customary, and there were no McVay witnesses, the probability is that Eliza was in Sussex, either working or with a relative, and that is where they met.

I am fairly convinced that the source of the later suffering of James Robert and Eliza is their very early marriage from comfortable backgrounds and rapid move to the other end of the world, with no idea of how primitive the antipodes still was, nor the hardships they would face. Eliza was motherless from an early age with all the insecurities that might involve. Their comfortable family backgrounds left them ill-prepared for real hardship, their youth made them impulsive and over optimistic, and they had no friendly neighbours to give them support. More mature family members with stable marriages to people they knew well, bringing families some years later when the colonies were better established, mostly did very well. James Robert's and Eliza's children would struggle to move on from the privations and tragedies of their childhoods, eldest son Joseph repeating most of their poor judgements. Henry, John William and Robert seem to have transcended their difficult beginnings, although I haven't yet found James.

1841 Almost immediately after their marriage, Eliza and James Robert emigrated with the New Zealand Company in "ARAB", arriving at Nelson NZ in October 1842.

1842 The New Zealand Company failed to settle Nelson which was still virgin bush with unhappy Maori who threatened the new arrivals, and "ARAB" took Eliza and James to Port Nicholson (Wellington). They didn't stay there more than a month or two, but went to Hobart Town in Van Dieman's Land. I have found a possible reference to James Robert crossing the Tasman to Tasmania in a coastal vessel, but Eliza is not mentioned. See docs for reports of the voyage.

1842 First child, Joseph is born, at Brown's River, Hobart Town, VDL. Followed by two more children in 1844 (Henry) and 1846 (James who died age 2 months).

1843 Family farming in Connewarre, Port Phillip District? Says Joseph. They were in VDL until at least 1846/7.

1848 An Eliza Richardson age 25 yrs is admitted as one of the first ten patients at the new Yarra Bend Asylum. She is described as having "ordinary insanity" and was released later that year. Is this our Eliza, a fragile person dealing with enormous challenges and infant deaths? The age is not quite right, but clerical error might account for that, or this might be one of the poor lost Irish Richardsons in Melbourne at the time.
[I note that Eliza had given birth to Robert not long before this - her fourth child].

December 1852: An advertisement in the Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer says - "Strayed from Lake Connewarre, in a state of mental derangement, my wife Eliza Richardson, or M'Vey, on Saturday, the 4th current. She is supposed to have made for Geelong. Any information concerning her, sent to Dr Baylie, will be thankfully received by her distressed husband and family. There are several marks upon her wrist." Eliza is 32 yrs old, and appears to have attempted suicide. See docs
[Eliza had just given birth to Albinia who would die in 1853, perhaps a fragile child]

1858 abt: Joseph says he leaves the farm at Connewarre at age 17 yrs.

1860 Central Police Court, Yarra Street, Tuesday 30th October (1860), Before the Police Magistrate and John Morris Esq. Lunacy - Eliza Richardson, on the report of Drs Mackin and Day, was committed as a lunatic, unsafe to be at large. See report from Geelong Advertiser Wed 31 Oct 1860 Page 3 from TROVE. I feel very confident this is our Eliza and that she is 7 months pregnant with twins and possibly suicidal. Depression is highly likely given her circumstances. Eliza was aged only 39 years.

Dec 1860 Eliza delivers twins at Geelong Goal. Both die. At this time Geelong Goal is a refuge for people 'sentenced' for vagrancy, indigence,or "committed" due to mental illness or infirmity' etc. Eliza is presumably in the goal because she was committed as a lunatic in October of that year.

1883 January Joseph reports that his mother, Eliza, and sister (the female twin? Albinia?) are both in an asylum. This suggests both are still living at that time. Eliza would be age 62 yrs. Albinia died very young and is buried at Geelong Cemetery, both twins died in infancy, so there must be another girl child somewhere for Joseph to be correct. Alternatively, Joseph left home well before 1860 when his mother was incarcerated and might have lost contact with his family, so assumed that the female twin survived.

James Robert suicides in September 1881, alone in a hovel at Donnybrook. What a tragic pair. See his profile for the inquest report.

DEATH & BURIAL Name: Eliza Richardson Birth Year: abt 1823 Age: 70 Death Place: Beechworth, Victoria Registration Year: 1893 Registration Place: Victoria Registration Number: 497 [This might be a different person]

15th April 1890: Beechworth Asylum records Eliza Richardson diagnosed with dementia. Transferred from Yarra Bend. This patient is quiet & very useful in the Cottage. 16th Oct. Employed in the sewing room, is quiet but ambulant, frail. Eats and sleeps well, & seems in fair condition. 10th Dec (?) 1888: Does a little work. 26th Sept 1889: Is champ****? Says she was quite frail, and had been there since at least 1888, and been transferred from Yarra Bend Asylum on Sept 22 1887. She was in fair bodily health on admission and suffering from dementia.

INQUEST "She continued in the condition until September last when she became very delicate and her health began to fail. She was kept in bed from 26th January last. She came under my care on the 10th inst. when she was extremely (Unreadable) and feeble and was kept in bed. She continued in this condition until the morning of the 14th inst. when she gradually sank and died. at about 6.30am. While under my care she was attended regularly by me. She received medicines and extra diet. There were no marks of injury or bedsores. Sworn 14th February, 1893 at Beechworth. Clarence George Godfrey (Medical Officer) Kate Quinlan, on her oath, saith I am a hospital warder of the lunatic asylum residing at Beechworth. The deceased Eliza Richardson came under my care on the 28th November last. She was very weak and suffering from debility. She was able to go about. On the 26th January last she finally took to her bed. Dr Derham attended to her and ordered her medicine and all the usual medical comforts. The latter consisted of maize and sago, beef tea, milk, brandy and eggs. I gave the deceased these as directed - she gradually got weaker and died at 6.30am today in my presence. Dr Godfrey has been attending to her since the 10th inst during the time she was under my care. She made no complaint about anything. She appeared to be about 70 yrs of age. No friends called to see her. K Quinlan. The post mortem showed a body having lived on poor quality food, with a sedentary life for many years, but without injury or signs of medical neglect. She died of exhaustion from chronic disease of lungs and brain. David Skinner. The jury was made up of Francis Bertrand, David Fulton, Alfred Curd, John Marten, and James Cross, who concurred with the conclusion of the post mortem. See documents. I believe this is probably our Eliza, age abt.70 yrs (74yrs in 1893), and confirms Joseph's report that his mother was still living, and in an asylum, in 1883. Perhaps being in the asylum, no matter how problematic the care, was better for her than being in the community and enabled her to outlive James Robert. She certainly seems to have been treated with care and respect at the end, if the evidence is truthful. There is no obvious reason to assume she was not as well treated as the inquest describes. Still no evidence of Joseph's other sister if she ever existed.

Notice of Eliza's death says: We, the undersigned, hereby give notice that Eliza Richardson, a patient admitted into the institution on 22nd September 1887, died therein in the presence of Kate Quinlan, on the fourteenth day of February 1893. And I, the undersigned superintendent, certify the apparent cause of such death was senile decay and diarrhea. Superintendent of the asylum at Beechworth. Joseph Rowan, the Coroner, made a note that says "Memo for Sgt Hood I will hold an inquest at the asylum at 5pm today. Let a post mortem examination be made and a jury of five be summoned. Joseph Rowan Coroner 14/2/93"

I am not sure why Eliza's death is dated 1890 and all the coronial docs give dates in 1893. Clerical error? The weight of evidence suggests 1893 is the correct date. I have added pics of the asylum at Beechworth from 1867 and 1950.