Susannah Roe

1841 England census - Susan Moore, 21 (born about 1820), not born Northamptonshire. Also listed: James Roe BA, 22 (born about 1819), not born Northamptonshire, ind.; Ann Payne, 21 (born about 1820), not born Northamptonshire, female servant; Fanny Blackwell, 19 (born about 1822), not born Northamptonshire, female servant; Fanny Bott, 17 (born about 1824), born Northamptonshire, female servant; Susan Roe, 19 (born about 1822), not born Northamptonshire, female servant.

Address - Bridge street, Peterborough, Northamptonshire, England.

England & Wales Marriage registration index record for Susannah Moore marrying James Roe, July-September quarter 1843, Glanford Brigg registration district, Lincolnshire, Vol. 14, p. 469.

1851 England census - Susanna Roe, 26 (born about 1825), born Widdington, Lincolnshire, England, Curate's Wife. Also in the house: husband James Roe, 28 (born about 1823), born Lincolnshire, England, Curate Of High Ham; daughter Georgina Alice Roe, 6 (born about 1845), born Galleywood, Essex, England, Curate's Daur Scholar; daughter Mary Susan Roe, 1 (born about 1850), born High Ham, Somerset, England, Curate's Daur; daughter Catherine Agnes Roe, 5 months (born about 1851), born High Ham, Somerset, England, Curate's Daur; mother-in-law Catherine Sarah Roe, 75 (born about 1776), born Alverstoke, Hampshire, England, widow, Independant; visitor, sister Frances Moore, 24 (born about 1827), born St Peters, Derbyshire, England, Independant; servant Hannah Hobbs, 26 (born about 1825), born Dulverton, Somerset, England, Nurse; servant Sarah Scriven, 29 (born about 1822), born High Ham, Somerset, England, Hous Servant; and servant Hannah Taylor, 21 (born about 1830), born Upperton, Herefordshire, England, Cook.

Address - High Ham, Langport, Somerset, England.

1861 England census - Susan Roe, 40 (born about 1821), born Waddington, Lincolnshire, England, translator foreign languages. Also in the house : daughter Louisa F E Roe, 8 (born about 1853), born Condweeow, Cornwall, England; daughter Hellen E Roe, 5 ( born about 1856), born Combe Hay, Somerset; and daughter Louisa Roe, 2 (born about 1859), born Gloucestershire, England.

Address - 23 Hatton Wall, Saffron Hill, London, Middlesex, England.

In 1861, husband James Roe was convicted in the Old Bailey of forging a money order and transported to Western Australian on the York, arriving in 1862.

Susannah and her children arrived in WA on 17 December 1864 on the Hastings.

Inquirer and Commercial News (Perth, WA), Wednesday 21 December 1864, page 2

Shipping Intelligence.

ARRIVED.

19 [ie 17 December]. ... — Hastings, 541 tons, Captain McQueen, from London, with general cargo. Passengers — ... Mrs Roe, Miss Roe and 8 children, ...

James met his family at Fremantle and immediately escorted them back to York, where he was privately employed as a schoolmaster. It is said that Susannah refused an offer of hospitality from Bishop Hale's wife Sabina at Fremantle, because the offer did not include her husband. During their time at York, the financial needs of the large family kept James and Susannah separated. Susannah found work teaching a class in the town, and James worked at the Seven Mile Spring on the road to Guildford, probably also as a teacher.

James was probably more highly qualified to teach than anyone else in the colony at the time, but his convict status, especially the fact that he had not yet received his conditional pardon, would normally have precluded him from being offered an official teaching position. However Bishop Hale, who was also chairman of the Board of Education, sympathised with the family's plight, and in 1866 he tried to secure for James and Susannah a joint appointment to a new school at Greenough. Unable to organise accommodation for Roe's large family, the Board of Education eventually appointed only James to the position, but arranged for Susannah to be offered a position at a private school in Geraldton.

James started at Greenough early in 1867, and by April the local Education Board reported positively on his progress. Susannah was then transferred to his school, and the couple were finally able to live under the same roof. This arrangement was to last only nine months, however, as in January 1868, Susannah was transferred to a new school at South Greenough.

James's relationship with his local Education Board began to sour in 1870 and towards the end of the year he was dismissed.

For the next two years James and Susannah remained at Greenough. Susannah continued in her teaching post at South Greenough, and James leased a small farm and cut sandalwood. He also acted as agent, auctioneer and clerk for Henry Gray and began to work as a local correspondent for the Fremantle Herald, In 1873 this resulted in an offer of full-time work as a reporter on the newspaper. At the end of the year, Susannah resigned her job as a teacher, and the family moved to Perth, where James took up his position with the Herald. Shortly afterwards he joined James Pearce and William Beresford as co-editors. He worked at the paper for the rest of his life, by which time Beresford had died, and Pearce had sold the Herald to the Inquirer.

Western Australian Death registration index record for Susannah Roe, father unknown, mother unknown, place of birth unknown, died aged 68. No. 82 of 1887.

The Inquirer and Commercial News, Wednesday 23 February 1887, p 4.; The Daily News, Thursday 24 February 1887, p 3. ; The Inquirer and Commercial News, Wednesday 2 March 1887, p 4

ROE. — At Perth, at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. Moll, on the 23rd instant, Susanna, the beloved wife of James Roe, of Perth, Western Australia, and Lincoln, England.

National Trust East Perth Cemeteries record for Susannah Roe; died 23 February 1887, at Perth, age 68 years. Mother : Eliza nee Smith; Father : Henry Moore; cause of death : Tetany; cemetery section : Roman Catholic; grave number : 82; born : 10 July 1818, Lincolnshire, England; arrived in WA : 17 December 1864; ship : Hastings; spouse: James Elphinstone Roe; married : 02 August 1843, Redbourne, Lincoln, England; Children : Georgina Alice 1845; Thomas Elphinstone 1845-1850; James Elphinstone 1847; Catherine Agnes Moll 1850; Mary Susan 1850; Edward Henry Lionel Denman 1852; Laura Frances Eliza 1852; Helen Emily 1856; Una 1858; Louisa 1859; Annie Susan Ethelrida 1862. Schoolmistress in Geraldton and Greenough; Died at Residence of her daughter Catherine Agnes Moll.