The Tree of Me

My Seabrook family, Henry William his wife Sarah and their daughter Sarah Caroline arrived in Hobart Town aboard the Thomas Laurie  on 12th November 1832. I've seen a lot of early maps and have visited Hobart and Franklin Wharf where Henry had a timber yard but always wondered what it may have looked like. Today I discovered the Virtual Hobart Town app which shows what life was like in Hobart Town in the late 1820's. The video below is a teaser to the app. It's certainly worthwhile downloading the app.

The signature below is of Henry William Seabrook (1806 - 1883) my great great great grandfather. Henry was a builder in Hobart Town. The story of how I received this signature is one of those serendipitous moments. In the early 1990s I lived in Tamworth. I was pleased that the Tamworth library had the microfilms of the early Tasmanian records. I spent many days looking through these records. One day another gentleman was there using these records. We got talking about our research. When I said that I was researching the Seabrooks, he said, "He was a builder wasn't he?" From there we ascertained that his wife's ancestor John Lewis was apprenticed to Henry William Seabrook in 1855 and they had a copy of the apprenticeship papers at home. He generously gave me a copy. At the bottom of the document was this signature. Signature of Henry William Seabrook