Harriet Smalley
Harriet is an intriguing character who warrants a page of her
own, even though she is not a direct ancestor of ours
Parents : James
Smalley and Martha Goode (see their page for info about
her family)
First a brief summary of Harriet's
eventful life.
Harriet came to
Australia with her parents in 1851.as a four year old. Her
brother Thomas Smalley was born on the voyage. (Thomas was
Merrill's great grandfather). In 1856 James Smalley was a butcher
in Main Street, Ballarat so she would have been living with
them.
Harriet's
son Robert Smalley was born in Ballarat in 1864.
No father listed on the birth certificate, but Robert married in Ballarat as
Robert Morton and his father is believed to be Robert
Morton.
Harriet
married James McCartney in 1867 and had three children,
Martha (1868, Ballarat), Euphemia (1870, Clunes) and Charles
(1874). Charles was registered as both Charles McCartney and
Charles Smalley with no father named again. Family legend
has us related to Charlie McCartney, the great Australian
fast bowler, but the evidence seems clear that this is not
so.
In 1879 Harriet, named
Harriet McArtney, turns up working as a stewardess
aboard a ship, the "Emu", working out of Adelaide. Also on the ship
is John Maxwell, aged 28, a carpenter. These two may
have married, however no records have been found of a
marriage (or of a divorce or annullment to James
McCartney)..
The Maxwell
couple had 2 children in SA, William (1884) and Janet
(1889). The family next turn up in Albany, where a tragic
accident is reported. John, Harriet, the two young children
and Martha live on a hulk, the Herschel, owned by The
Adelaide Steamship Company, which is one of a number of
hulks anchored near Albany. They were there to allow
steamships to quickly refuel and so shorten the
Europe-Australia passage. In 1894, returning from a visit in
Albany, Harriet and John both drowned when a freak gust of
wind overturned their little sailing boat just as they were
about to tie up to the Herschel. The children saw the
accident happen and watched, horrified and helpless, as
their mother screamed for help and drowned. The children's
screams alerted residents in other hulks who organised a
search party. After some days John's body was recovered, but
Harriet's was never found. Her death registration cannot be
found and this is probably why; no body was found. O ended
an arventful life. Harriet was only 47.
After that breif summary, I will leave you to
the detailed evidence and correspondence
Les Rowley
Harriet came to Australia on the
Ship Constance, sailing from Plymouth on the 15 July 1851 and
arrived Hobson's Bay 27 October 1851.
The shipping list shows:
Smalley,
James Age 46 Farm Labourer Newton P.
Methodist, could neither read nor write.
Martha (wife) Age 39 Native place
Wisbeach could read
Harriet Age 4
Infant born on board (Thomas Henry)
James McCartney has a separate page.
Link to it
Children
Robert William Smalley
(7/4/1864-1920). B/C 12996. Also called Robert Morton.
Born in Ballarat West.
No father listed on birth certificate, but it is believed to be
Robert Morton (1830-1866).
Robert married Susan Treuenach. He was a commercial traveller,
currier and photographer. Died in Ballarat
Martha McCartney b 1868 Clunes
Euphemia
McCartney. b 1870. Died as Euphemia
Greenbank, aged 76 in Ballarat (r/n 22240)
Charles
McArtney (1874-17/8/1947) Died in Adelaide, aged
73. Also known as Charles Smalley
William John Maxwell b 1884 in SA
Janet May Maxwell b
1889 in SA
Family oral history has it that Harriet had a descendant Charlie
McCartney, the famous Australian cricketer. He would just about
need to be a grandson, as he was part of the 1921 side that toured
England. Beryl Cox, a descendant of Harriet, emailed as follows
Harriet Smalley (b. 1847) was my
G.G.grandmother, and boy has she caused me some head aches
over the years.
She
gave birth to my G.grandfather Robert William Smalley on
7.4.1864 in Ballarat with no father mentioned.
Robert
married in Ballarat as Robert Morton on 26.8.1886 to Susan Ann
Trewenack and named his father as being a Robert
Morton. I have never been able to find out
anything else about this Robert Morton.
Harriet
married James McCartney in 1867.
Martha
McCartney b.1868, Ballarat.
Euphemia
McCartney b. 1870, Clunes.
Charles
McCartney and Charles Smalley b.1874 Ballarat, with no father
named again.
It
seems to me that the 2 Charles are one and the same both born
1874, Charles McCartney cert no. 6854 and Charles Smalley
6854R. seems rather odd.
A note June 2001 from Kathy Smalley
As an aside I believe I have tracked down Charles Smalley
McCartney to SA.
http://family.incoll.org/getperson.php?personID=I2805&tree=LMIncell
(link no longer works
Another email in from Roslyn Livingston-Schubert, who writes
I also investigated NSW BDM
records to see what turns up about the famous cricketeer,
Charlie Macartney.
It
seems he was not a descendant of Harriet, unless Charles
Smalley MCartney had a brother called Joseph who is unknown
and who married extremely young, and who was not born in
Victoria or NSW. If the family left Vic after Charles'
birth it is possible another baby was born after 1874 in
another state. However if another baby was born in, for eg,
1875 it would be far too young to marry in 1882.
I am a descendant and researcher of the McArtney
(McCartney) family who came to Ballarat from Fife in 1852. James
McCartney, the oldest son of William and Euphemia McCartney,
married Harriet Smalley in 1867.
They had 2 girls, Martha b 1868 in Ballarat and Euphemia b 1870
in Clunes, where James was a miner. In 1874 Charles Smalley
McCartney was born.
I have no further information about James' further activities,
including his death. Harriet disappeared as did Martha. Euphemia
married Willliam Greenbank in 1895 in Ballarat where she died in
1946 after producing the following children: James, Rose, Mary
and William.
Roslyn points to an interesting Wikipedia
article on Charlie Macartney, worth a read in its own right.
She also offers new hope in the quest for a famous sporting
ancestor.
Interestingly, some of the AFL
McCartney footballers and trainers are definitely descended
from siblings of James McCartney; I don't follow the sport so
can never remember who and for which team. However, I think
the (previous) trainer for Geelong is one of them
Harriet had been dormant for a year, when a series of emails came
in from two separate sources in a week
(1) Danielle Waller, a descendant of
Harriet
I believe after Harriett
was married to James McArtney, she was then married? to my Great
Great Great ....Grandfather John Maxwell. They had two more
children William John Franklin Maxwell (born 1884, Port Adelaide)
and Janet May Maxwell (b 1889 Port Adelaide). John and Harriett
were tragically drowned on 10 Feb 1894 in Albany. The orphaned
children went to Adelaide to be raised by Martha McArtney (Half
sister who was 26 at the time) They lived with Martha until they
each married.
The local people of Albany held a
Concert 28 Feb 1894 to raise funds for the orphaned Maxwell
children, which was given to Martha with which she purchased a
cottage for them all to live in.
Please refer to the
attached newspaper clipping from The Advertiser (Adelaide),
Monday 10 February 1902, page 4
MAXWELL.-In loving remembrance of
John and Harriet Maxwell, accidentally drowned at Albanv West
Australia, February 10, 1894. Not forgotten!
-Inserted
by her loving son, Charles McArtney,Port Adelaide.
William John Franklin Maxwell married
Hannah Ruth Hales (children Leslie Robert, & ?? still
updating this info) and died 7 Sept 1960, both are buriedin the
Port Pirie Cemetery, South Australia. Janet May married George
Frederick 16 May 1912, Port Adelaide, and had 4 children George,
Walter, Evaand Vern, died 1974, Tailem Bend South Australia.
The email from Roslyn (below) was
wonderful to read! However I have conflicting information on two
counts.
(a) We have found a Death Certificate for
James McCartney in Port Adelaide. A James McCartney died at the
Paris Hotel, Portland Wharf, Port Adelaide on 2Aug 1888, with
chronic bronchitis and morbus cordis listed as cause ofdeath,
aged 55.Though the other concept is interesting considering if
James and Harriet fell out, why would he follow her to Port
Adelaide? We thought he might bethere for his children??
(b) The other conflict was Martha. Roslyn had
Martha living on the Hulk with Harriet and John, however the death
notice in the paper (NLA newspapers) states children listed as
Charles and Martha McArtney of Port Adelaide. Being 26? It's
possible Martha lived in Port Adelaide and never went to Albany?
But if Roslyn has more information I'd love to know :)
Needs more research? The hunt never
ends....
William John and Janet May being orphaned
young was problematic for tracing family history for us, all we
knew was he was a carpenter and drowned with his wife in Albany
WA. John Maxwell has always been a very elusive mystery to our
family, no one knew where he came from? Who his parents were?
Siblings? But with the information Roslyn found of the SS Emu, I
have located the seamen list for this ship and it clearly states
John Maxwell,Carpenter was from Glasgow! I have now found his
family in the 1861 Scotland census. We are very very excited.
(2) Roslyn Livingston-Schubert
Quoting
from her email
Recently, Kerry Burton, another
McArtney researcher, worked with me on Harriet
Smalley. Below is what we have
found out or surmised.
In 1864 Harriet had Robert William
Smalley, who seems to have later been known as Robert Morton,
according to Beryl Cox, a descendant.
James McArtney, b 1841, and
Harriet married in 1867.
Martha was born in 1868
Euphemia was born in 1860
Charles McArtney or Charles Smalley
was born in 1874. NB the spelling McArtney and McCartney have
been interchanged over the years.
After the
birth of Charles McCartney in 1874 Harriet and James McArtney
disappeared. I speculated that they might have gone to New
Zealand to hunt for gold, or the West Oz, or anywhere, in
fact.
What seems
to have happened after Euphemia's birth is this:
Harriet and James separated before
the birth of Charles in 1874. Charles' father was known only to
Harriet. She registered the baby's birth as both Smalley and
McArtney and in both cases said that the father was "Unknown".
When the couple separated, baby
Euphemia was given to her grandmother and namesake, Euphemia
McCartney, who lived near Cardigan, to be raised
and James disappeared in a cloud of dust. I have no proof
of this, but when Harriet's daughter Euphemia married in 1895,
she gave her address as Cardigan. By this
stage Harriet had been out of Victoria for around 20
years and James had also been out of Victoria for many
years. Her witness was her cousin, Euphemia Biddle. Family
lore also has it that Euphemia lived with her grandmother.
Also, both Harriet and James left
Ballarat for interstate.
In 1879 Harriet,
named Harriet McArtney, with age given as 31, turns up
working as a stewardess aboard a ship, the "Emu", working out
of Adelaide. Also on the ship is John Maxwell,
aged 28, a carpenter. These two married, however I have found no records anywhere of a marriage (or of
a divorce or annullment to James McCartney).
The Maxwell couple
had 2 children, William John MAXWELL b 1884 in SA and Janet
May MAXWELL b 1889 in SA (information supplied by
Kathy Smalley).
The family next turn up
in Albany, where a tragic accident is reported. John,
Harriet, the two young children and Martha live on a hulk, the Herschel,
owned by The Adelaide Steamship Company, which is one of a
number of hulks anchored near Albany. They were there
to allow steamships to quickly refuel and so
shorten the Europe-Australia passage.
In 1894, returning from a visit in
Albany, Harriet and John both drowned when a freak gust of wind
overturned their little sailing boat just as they were
about to tie up to the Herschel. The children saw the
accident happen and watched, horrified and helpless, as their
mother screamed for help and drowned. The
children's screams alerted residents in other hulks who
organised a search party. After some days John's body was
recovered, but Harriet's was never found. Her death registration
cannot be found and this is probably why; no body was found.
(NLA newspapers)
The town of Albany organised
fund-raising for the "Maxwell orphans" and enough money
was raised to buy a cottage for the children in Adelaide. (NLA
newspaper site)
Charles had remained in Adelaide.
He married an Elizabeth Ward in Nov, 1894 and they had 4
children: Frederick, Ivy, Leslie and Kathleen. He lived in
Paddington and Port Adelaide and worked as a sawyer. ( Incholl
family site, SAGS, and census)
Martha ran a little store in James
St, Port Adelaide (census). In 1913, aged 45, she married Robert
Amber, aged 39, a carter of Port Adelaide. She had no children.
What happened to James McArtney?
James spent time travelling between
Charters Towers and Sydney. He registered the birth of
his son, Reginald McArtney in 1881 in NSW. The mother was
Susanna Edwards, who he married in 1891, claiming he was a
widower.
He never acknowledged Martha
McCartney or Charles as his children. He acknowledged only
Euphemia and Reginald.
James died in Charters
Towers.
Another email from
Roslyn - 29 Sep 2010 adds to the picture of Harriet's children
According to newspaper reports Martha was on
the hulk with the smaller children when Harriet and John died.
Previous to this she must have been in Adeladie as that is
where Harriet joined the Emu. I do not know where she and
Charles lived in Adelaide, who with or what from. It is very
probably that she would have given her address or home base as
Adelaide, as this is where she had lived most of her life and
this is where her brother, Charles, lived. I can only surmise
that when Harriet arrived in Adelaide she stayed with
relatives, or somehow had a friend who was the woman from
whose house Martha was married. martha was 10 and Cahrles was
5 when Harriet began to work on the EMU so they must have had
somewhere to stay. Charles married when he was about 20 in
Port Adelaide and lived near her the rest of his life and
Martha later lived in Port Adelaide, so probably it was
somewhere in the vicinity.
Notes from Claire and Christine's
Researches
Clare and Christine have
put together a life story for Harriet based on the above
researches. Comment or feedback is welcome. Enjoy
Harriet has an amazing story. In 1864 Harriet
had Robert William Smalley, who seems to have later been known
as Robert Morton, according to Beryl Cox, a descendant. James
McArtney, b 1841, and Harriet married in 1867. Then had Martha
(born in 1868) and Euphemia (born in 1860)
Charles McArtney or Charles Smalley was born in
1874. NB the spelling McArtney and McCartney have been
interchanged over the years.
After the birth of Charles McCartney in 1874
Harriet and James McArtney disappeared. I speculated that they
might have gone to New Zealand to hunt for gold, or the West Oz,
or anywhere, in fact. What seems to have happened after
Euphemia's birth is this:
Harriet and James separated before the birth of
Charles in 1874. Charles' father was known only to Harriet. She
registered the baby's birth as both Smalley and McArtney and in
both cases said that the father was "Unknown". When the couple
separated, baby Euphemia was given to her grandmother and
namesake, Euphemia McCartney, who lived near Cardigan, to be
raised and James disappeared in a cloud of dust. I have no proof
of this, but when Harriet's daughter Euphemia married in 1895, she
gave her address as Cardigan. By this stage Harriet had been out
of Victoria for around 20 years and James had also been out of
Victoria for many years. Her witness was her cousin, Euphemia
Biddle. Family lore also has it that Euphemia lived with her
grandmother. Also, both Harriet and James left Ballarat for
interstate.
In 1879 Harriet, named Harriet McArtney, with
age given as 31, turns up working as a stewardess aboard a ship,
the "Emu", working out of Adelaide. Also on the ship is John
Maxwell, aged 28, a carpenter. These two married, however I have
found no records anywhere of marriage (or of a divorce or
annullment to James McCartney). The Maxwell couple had 2 children,
William John MAXWELL b 1884 in SA and Janet May MAXWELL b 1889 in
SA (information supplied by Kathy Smalley). The family next turn
up in Albany, where a tragic accident is reported. John, Harriet,
the two young children and Martha live on a hulk, the Herschel,
owned by The Adelaide Steamship Company, which is one of a number
of hulks anchored near Albany. They were there to allow steamships
to quickly refuel and so shorten the Europe-Australia
passage. In 1894, returning from a visit in
Albany, Harriet and John both drowned when a freak gust of wind
overturned their little sailing boat just as they were about to
tie up to the Herschel. The children saw the accident happen and
watched, horrified and helpless, as their mother screamed for help
and drowned. The children's screams alerted residents in other
hulks who organised a search party. After some days John's body
was recovered, but Harriet's was never found. Her death
registration cannot be found and this is probably why; no body was
found. (NLA newspapers)
The town of Albany organised fund-raising for
the "Maxwell Orphans" and enough money was raised to buy a cottage
for the child Adelaide. (NLA newspaper site)
Charles had remained in Adelaide. He married an
Elizabeth Ward in Nov, 1894 and they had 4 children: Frederick,
Ivy, Leslie and Kathleen. He lived in Paddington and Port Adelaide
and worked as a sawyer. ( Incholl family site, SAGS, and
census)
Martha ran a little store in James St, Port
Adelaide (census). In 1913, aged 45, she married Robert Amber,
aged 39, a carter of Port Adelaide. She had no
children.
James McCartney spent time travelling between
Charters Towers and Sydney. He registered the birth of his son,
Reginald McArtney in 1881 in NSW. The mother was Susanna Edwards,
who he married in 1891, claiming he was a widower. He never
acknowledged Martha McCartney or Charles as his children. He
acknowledged only Euphemia and Reginald. James died in Charters
Towers.
Acknowledgements
Kathy Smalley, Beryl Cox, Danielle Waller,
Roslyn Livingston-Schubert and Kerry Burton have given us Harriet
Thanks to Claire and Christine for their painstaking work
reflected above
A last word on Harriet from Roslyn
I think she is fascinating. Was she liberated
? Was she a strumpet? She certainly struggled to keep and
feed her family; imagine leaving 4 year old Charles in the care
of his 6 year older sister, Martha, while she went and worked on
a ship. Perhaps Martha and Charles had somewhere to stay with
relatives.. Or, perhaps she ran away from them ... one day we
might be able to find out.
Did any of her siblings have such an adventurous
life ? Did any of them go to Adelaide ?
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additions or corrections to this page, please contact us
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