The fifth child born to Thomas and Mary Ann Holt (nee Edwards), Elizabeth Maud Holt came into the world on 13 July 1862 in Easenhall in Warwickshire, England. Her father, Thomas, worked as an agricultural labourer while her mother (in her youth) was a ribbon weaver. The family tended to live in small towns surrounding the …
When my 2nd Great Grandmother, Elizabeth Maud Holt, left England in 1877 at the tender age of 15, she may have expected to never see or hear from her siblings again. Bound for Western Australia, losing contact would hardly seem surprising when considering the vast distance between the two countries. As it turns out, she didn’t completely …
In the early years of the Swan River Colony there weren’t a lot of choices with regards to marriage. There may have been more opportunities to meet people whilst living in Perth but, if you were living in rural areas, the opportunities may have been few and far between. Those people struggling to find a …
With the inclement weather the day before affecting various social gatherings around Perth and Fremantle, perhaps the Masters sisters were apprehensive about what to expect on their wedding day. Maybe they instead took comfort in the fact that they were both going to be June brides (an auspicious month to be married) and that rain …
On Saturday, 5 January 1833, one of the earliest Western Australian newspapers, The Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal, was printed and distributed to the Swan River Colony. Edited by Charles Macfaull, Volume I, number I, was four pages long and cost one shilling. The Colony was still in its infancy (having only been established …
Finding Family 