Dear All,
One of the enduring mysteries on James Chuter Sears was who exactly was his
mother.
When he was baptised in 1846 in Westbury, Tasmania, (his birth was not
registered) his parents are given as William and Sarah Eliza Sears.
When he got married, he said his mother was Rose Eliza Wadham.
Rose Eliza Wadham married his father William Sears in 1850 in Melbourne.
They had a son together, John Charles Sears, born 1847 and died 1848
Melbourne.
When Rose died in 1866, James C Sears was the informant and listed himself
and John Charles as her only issue.
But Rose had been convicted and transported for life under what appears to
be a working name of Eliza Brown who had "been on the town", i.e. a lady of
the night.
She had married in Tasmania as Eliza Brown to a William Edward Haldsworth
and had three children, one of whom survived, William Edward Haldsworth
junior**.
That W E Haldsworth jr had lived in a tent in Wm Sears front yard in
Moorabbin when James C was of an age that he should have known that he was
his half brother
If Rose was indeed James C's mother. Anyway, an Ancestry DNA test result
came through for me yesterday and I AM related to Michelle Temby nee Stewart
who,
If W E Haldsworth jnr, her ancestor, and known son of Rose Eliza Wadham
aka Eliza Brown is the half brother of James Chuter Sears who is my
ancestor.
Michelle and I are 4th (half) cousins. So James C's mother Sarah Eliza was
actually Rose Eliza Wadham aka Eliza Brown who had apparently split from her
husband
W E snr some years before and was maybe calling herself Sarah Eliza to hide
from him. There is a good break between when her last child to W E was born
and the conception
And birth of James C Sears. Some death notices of descendants of W E
Haldsworth jnr in WA papers also list as "cousins" , A Franzen and W Sears
which would be Albert
Franzen, son of Priscilla nee Sears and W Sears would be William John Sears.
** William Edward Haldsworth's mother is listed as Eliza Brown on his
Tasmanian birth registration. He was married twice in Victoria and both
times lists his mother as Rose Wadham.
William Sears and Rose Sears were witnesses at both marriages
So there we are. The speculation is ended and the mystery is solved through
DNA
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