Richard Edwards 1835-1915

Richard was my Great Great Grandfather  my mother's Great Grandfather.   To her knowledge and memory she knew nothing or ever heard mention of him.   As I did research on him he was very easy to trace through Census Records from 1841 through 1881 along with his Parents his wife and children. He was born in St.Lawrence on the the Isle of  Thanet in Kent England.

No one knows why St. Laurence Parish Church  and St. Lawrence Village and District are spelled differently it is confusing.  The church was built in 1062 as a chapel, it was enlarged in 1175 and again in the 1200's.  St. Lawrence was made a separate  parish in 1275.   A major restoration was done in 1888.

Richard and his wife Eliza Spain had one child born in Ramsgate, Kent, England in 1856, his other nine children were born in Whitehaven and Harrington in Cumberland, England from 1858 through 1876.

My Great Grandmother Caroline Jane Edwards born  1862 being one of them.

His wife Eliza Spain has no Father listed on their marriage Certificate.  Richard was the son of Thomas Edwards and Elizabeth Packer.

The reason for him moving so far away from his birthplace are obvious, his occupation was a Railway Engine Driver.  Ramsgate got the Southern Railroad in the 1840's.  In 1871 the Station was named Ramsgate & St Lawrence- On- Sea.  Whether he was transferred to Whitehaven by his Company or from his own choice, I don't know.

He and several of his children were not found in the 1891 Census and for years I looked and could not find them.  My first thought of course was Immigration  but to where?  America? Australia? Canada? New Zealand?  I was up against a brick wall.

Then one day I received an email from a lady in Australia telling me that she was married to the Great Grandson of Richard Edwards through his daughter Harriet Eliza born in 1874.  So Richard and Eliza had emigrated to Picton, Queensland, Australia after 1881.  Problem solved, since then I have been in contact with other descendents and have got quite a lot of information on his life in Australia.

Enough for now I think, I will have to do Part Two on my interesting Great Great Grandfather.