The Tree of Me

For at least 20 years I have always know that my great great grandmother, Sarah Jane Merchant nee Hooton was buried in an unmarked grave in the Church of England section of Tenterfield cemetery. I had never bothered to look for her specific resting place. Two weeks ago, I went to Tenterfield for a few days and decided to take some photos for Billion Graves. Instead of looking for family headstones in a methodical way I wandered around to the headstones I knew well. I took lots of photos and was content. Later I thought I should really check out other more distant family members in the cemetery. I searched my Reunion database for those who had died in Tenterfield. I already had the burial places noted so copied them down and went back for a more ordered search. Included on my list was Sarah Jane. Imagine my surprise when I compared her location to other family members. There she was, between her two eldest children, James Joseph Merchant and Harriet Baker. Joe Merchant died i...

Many years ago I had trouble finding the death of my great, great, great grandmother Sarah Matilda Collins, formerly Merchant, nee Neal. It was in the days of handwritten indexes and I simply couldn't find her. However, quite unexpectedly the local newspaper,  The Tenterfield Star came to the rescue. I knew the date of the death of her son, Thomas Hugh and his death was reported thus. The Tenterfield Star, Tuesday Morning, 2nd December, 1902. Local and General News Death News was received on Saturday of the death of Mr Thomas Merchant of Drake, whose illness we reported in the last issue, as also did we report the death of his eldest son in West Australia.  Deceased leaves a wife and family in Tenterfield. I had lost trace of his son Albert (who by the way wasn't the eldest son), so naturally went to the previous week's news. The Tenterfield Star, Friday Morning, 28th November, 1902 Local and General News Death We much regret to record the death of a promising young...