The Ned Kelly Connection

My father always used to make a joke about my mother's uncle having been shot through the letterbox by Ned Kelly at Glenrowan.

I think he was alluding to the uncle having been postmaster or something at Glenrowan during the Ned Kelly business.

I never thought too much about it until I came across a Robert GIBBONS on the list of hostages at Glenrowan. I found another couple of entries for Robert Gibbons - He married Margaret Liddle in Glenrowan in 1871 and their daughter, Ellen Gibbons was born on 31/1/1875 (died 9/2/1875) in Wangaratta - near Glenrowan. I still didn't think too much about it because Robert wasn't a name that came up on any of my family lists.

However... Because I have a couple of fairly tight deadlines, I've spent today doing family history research - ah! there's nothing like procrastination for wasting time!. Anyway, I came across an old post on the Rootsweb board. The message asked for information about Robert Gibbons who was born in Buckinghamshire in about 1846 and died in Australia in 1914. Apparently Robert's father was John Thomas Gibbons and his mother was Eliza Susan something. The message then went on to say that John Thomas Gibbons had been married twice - the other time to Emma Hatche(?) and that Robert and his Step sister Ellen were buried in the same plot.

My 3xg grandmother - Catherine Gibbons - was the daughter of John Thomas Gibbons and Emma Hatch. Their children were:
John 1832 - died in infancy
John Thomas 1835-1897
Emma 1836-
Mary Ann 1836-1895
Ellen 1839 -1909
Catherine 1846-1930
Julindar 1850-died in infancy

Robert Gibbons, is therefore something of a mystery. The 1841 census shows John Thomas(1811), grocer, and Emma (1811), along with John Thomas(1835), Mary (1836) and Ellen(1839) living at High Street, Eton. Catherine is born in 1846 in Oxfordshire, Julindar is born in 1850 in Australia. Robert Gibbons was supposedly born in Buckinghamshire in 1843, so the dates just don't stack up. My guess is that the Ellen referred to in the Rootsweb post is actually the infant daughter, but I'd have to confirm that.

hmmm... watch this space.