Week 22 - So Far Away

My Family
The reality is we live 16,500km away from my dad's family and where I was born. I live 4,300km away from my mum's family in Western Australia. Being so far away from family has been the norm for our small family unit - mum, dad, my brother and me. We made many large moves throughout my childhood, however, we had the benefit of airplanes, cars, trains, and buses. Prior to moving to Australia we travelled from London to Staffordshire to stay with dad's family. We then moved to Perth, before living in Sydney, and finally Brisbane. I attended ten schools in three states, and had lived in 13 houses by the time I was 13 years old.
A Modern Day Trip
Later this year, my children and I are travelling to the UK to explore where our ancestors came from. We will connect with relatives that I have long since forgotten or never met. The internet has enabled us to undertake this endeavour after making connections with many cousins through Ancestry and Facebook. We are all getting excited, albeit a bit nervous, at the impending reunions.
George Brand - Stag

Daunting distances
Some of the distances he travelled seem daunting to us, in our era of high speed train, car, and plain. Imagine poor George (not that he didn't deserve his punishment) travelling so far away from his family and previous life.Larbert to Edinburgh | 53km |
Edinburgh to Middlesex | 646km |
Middlesex to Pentonville | 13km |
Pentonville to Dorset | 211km |
Dorset to Devon | 105km |
Devon to Dorset | 105km |
Dorset to Fremantle | 14,704km |
Fremantle to Greenough | 411km |
Samuel Bridges and Ellen Johnson

1887 – Kent to Plymouth | 410km |
1887 – Plymouth to Melbourne, Victoria | 17,198km |
1893 – Melbourne to Sydney | 852km |
1897 – Sydney to Western Australia | 3,909km |
1900 – Perth to Kalgoorlie | 578km |
So do you have any ancestors that travelled vast distances? Leave me a comment below telling me about them.
Bibliography
- 1. Erickson, Rica. The Brand on his Coat: Biographies of some Western Australian Convicts. Nedlands: University of Western Australia Press, 1983.
- 2. Ancestry.com. Australian Convict Transportation Registers – Other Fleets & Ships, 1791-1868 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Source Citation Class: HO 11; Piece: 18. Source Information Original data: Home Office: Convict Transportation Registers; (The National Archives Microfilm Publication HO11); The National Archives of the UK (TNA), Kew, Surrey, England. Accessed 16 May 2016.
- 3. Findmypast, England & Wales, Crime, Prisons & Punishment, 1770-1935. Piece Number 33, Series PCOM2, Millbank Prison, Middlesex: register of prisoners, https://search.findmypast.com.au/record?id=tna%2fccc%2f2b%2fpcom2%2f00855318. Accessed 5 June 2016.
- 4. Findmypast.com.au, Millbank Prison Registers: Male Prisoners, Volume 5, England & Wales, Crime, Prisons & Punishment, 1770 1935, Series HO24, Piece Number 5. https://search.findmypast.com.au/record?id=tna%2fccc%2f2d%2fho24%2f00037607, Accessed 5 June 2016.
- 5. Findmypast.com.au, England & Wales, Crime, Prisons & Punishment, 1770-1935. Piece Number 65, Series PCOM2, Pentonville Prison, Middlesex: register of prisoners, page 34. https://search.findmypast.com.au/record?id=tna%2fccc%2f2b%2fpcom2%2f00893185, Accessed 5 June 2016.
- 6. Findmypast.com.au. Home Office: Convict Hulks, Convict Prisons and Criminal Lunatic Asylums: Quarterly Returns of Prisoners, Convict Prison at Dartmoor, Devon. Series HO8, Piece Number 118. https://search.findmypast.com.au/record?id=tna%2fccc%2f2a%2fho8%2f01248079. Accessed 5 June 2016.
- 7. Findmypast.com.au. England & Wales, Crime, Prisons & Punishment, 1770-1935. Piece Number 357, Series PCOM2, Portland Prison, Dorset: governor’s journals, page 245, https://search.findmypast.com.au/record?id=tna%2fccc%2f2b%2fpcom2%2f01241410, Accessed 5 June 2016.
- 8. Ancestry.com. Western Australia, Australia, Crew and Passenger Lists, 1852-1930 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Source Citation: SRO of Western Australia; Albany Passenger list of Assisted Emigrants showing names of emigrants and from which countries selected; Accession: 115; Roll: 214. Accessed 5 June 2016.
- 9. Marriage Certificate of Samuel Bridges and Ellen Johnson, 391/1881, General Register Office, England.
- 10. Findmypast, Victoria Inward Passenger Lists 1839-1923, Immigration Record 1887 Ellen Bridges, Accessed 14 December 2009.
Hi Megan, my great-grandfather left Dublin for Melbourne, in 1911. My great-grandmother and their three young children were to follow him, once he got settled. When the Titanic sank, my great-grandmother refused to sail, so he came back, and they made their home in Newcastle, England. It could have been so different. 🙂
Hi Dara
It is amazing how one simple twist in fate could change the course of life so dramatically. My great-grandfather Thomas Richardson remained in England following the death of his father. His mother and siblings all travelled to Wisconsin to join her parents. He chose to move to Staffordshire and married my great-grandmother there. If he had of moved to Wisconsin would I still exist?
Regards
Megan
Very interesting to learn the background of how you got to be where you are . . . and your ancestors were certainly mobile too. My New York City-born father was a travel agent, after he returned from WWII, and ironically, the farthest he ever traveled was to Hawaii.
Hi Marian
Thank you for reading and leaving a comment! I thought it would be fun to compare the journey we did in modern times compared to my ancestors who did similar or more distances! I don’t know if I would have been brave enough in the 1800’s to move such vast distances!
Regards
Megan
Wow, Megan another great post and so many relatives to write about. I think that you are doing an amazing job tracking all your ancestors down. I don’t think I could do that. I think having to travel that much for George was punishment enough especially on a cramped ship. I like the way that you have got things organized on this post with the different links from your site good job.
Hi Fred
I’m glad you enjoyed it. I liked comparing the moves I did as a child with my ancestors – it is so much easier these days yet I really admire the Bridges family for their tenacity in their moves!
Regards
Megan