Whatmore Family History

There must have been compelling reasons for families to uproot themselves in the nineteenth century and make the long and hazardous journey from England to Australia. By the 1850s, the reasons were unlikely to have been religious persecution at home. It was more likely to have been the chance of a better life with new opportunities in a developing country. There was also the availability of Government assistance with the cost of the voyage. This post is about members of the Whatmore family of Mortlake who made the courageous decision to try their luck in a new land, and how they prospered there. I am most grateful to Mary MacDonald, Pamela Cushing and Margaret Hackney who have researched this family and have very generously allowed me to use their data and family portraits. These pictures remain their copyright and should not be further reproduced without their agreement.  

Additional data for which I am most grateful has been very kindly provided by Beverley Clarke and Kristin Tobin.

The origin of the Whatmore family of Mortlake is unknown. It would seem that the Thomas Whatmore who was there in the 1841 census was the first of the Whatmore family to settle at Mortlake. In 1841 his age is given as 80, although this has probably been rounded up or down by up to 5 years by the enumerator. He would have been born between 1756 and 1766. The census states that he was not born in Surrey The IGI (though incomplete) shows that there were no Whatmores baptised at Mortlake between 1599 and 1677, but the records for 1678 to 1766 are not available on the internet. If we go with the census statement about Thomas’s origin, then he could have been born anywhere, but the fact that his grandson Thomas, born  about 1822, eventually settled in Oldham, Lancashire, suggests that perhaps this family originated in that area. There is in any case no reason not to believe that the Mortlake Whatmores originated as part of the Watmoughs of the north of England.

 Mortlake   From Harrison’s History of London’ published 1775    Reproduced from the website of Roger Baynton with his kind permission. To see more of the engravings which Roger Baynton has for sale please follow this link:

Thomas Whatmore born 1794 at Mortlake 

Thomas Whatmore born 1794 became a Master Tailor. He married Ann Fisher on 3 September 1815 at St George’s Hanover Square, London. They had ten known children. These were: Susannah Ann Whatmore born 1816 and who died in 1851 at Mortlake. She married a James Reeves.  

Marianne Whatmore born 1818 at Mortlake 

William Whatmore born 1820 at Mortlake and who went to Australia.

 Thomas Whatmore born about 1822 at Mortlake. Thomas joined the army and went to India. At some point he changed regiments and at the same time changed his name to Henry Gamble. He married Georgianna Blackwell in India. The family later returned to England and settled in Oldham. Thomas/Henry died in 1883 in Oldham. Two of the children migrated to Massachusetts, USA taking Georgianna with them. This family will be the subject of a future post. 

George Whatmore born 1823 at Mortlake and died in 1848. 

Martha Whatmore born 1826 at Mortlake.

 Richard Whatmore born 1836 at Mortlake and went to Australia. 

Charles Whatmore born 1828 at Mortlake and died in the Workhouse at Richmond, Surrey in 1847. 

Edward Whatmore born 1829 at Mortlake and went to Australia. 

Elizabeth Whatmore born about 1832 at Mortlake and went to Australia. 

Ann Whatmore  born about  1833 at Mortlake and died 1847. 

Those who have researched the Mortlake family believe that the first to leave England were Thomas Whatmore born 1794 and his wife Ann (nee Fisher). This seems to me unlikely as Thomas was a Master Tailor and presumably well-established at Mortlake. It seems to me more probable that one or more of his children went first and that Thomas and Ann followed a couple of years later.  

Edward Whatmore born 1829 at Mortlake 

Edward Whatmore (the youngest son) went alone  to Australia in 1852 on an assisted passage aboard the ship ‘Sir Robert Sale’. He married Sarah Seagrave in 1857 at Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. they had three known children:

Mary Alicia Whatmore born 1858 at Geelong who died in 1939. She married William Harold Williams and after his death she remarried to Henry Parsons.

Elizabeth Whatmore born 1860 at Ballarat  who died in 1881 at Ballarat.

George Whatmore born 1862 at Ballarat and who died in 1863 at Ballarat.

William Whatmore born 1820 at Mortlake

William born 1820, the eldest son of Thomas Whatmore William married an Ann Davies in 1850 at St James’s, Paddington. In 1851 William and Ann were living at Kew and William was working as a gardener .  William and Ann went to Australia in 1855 sailing first to Melbourne on the ‘Fingal’ and then on to Tasmania on the ‘Black Swan.’ With them on the voyage were their first two children – Elizabeth born about 1853 in London and George born about 1854 in London. They settled at Launceston where their son William was born in 1855. In 1856 they were living at Lyttleton Street.

 Launceston is about 30 kilometres from the coast and is located on the Tamar River in the north eastern part of Tasmania.  It is well laid out with parks and gardens and today is the second largest city in the island.  For more information about Launceston please follow this link:http://www.discovertasmania.com/destinations/launceston_tamar_and_north/launceston 

Since both of William’s parents died in Launceston, it seems likely that when they came out to Australia they lived with William and his family. William’s father Thomas did not live long in his new country. He died at Launceston on 13 January 1858, his death being attributed to ‘decay of nature’. Thomas’ wife Ann was certainly living with her son William at Lyttelton Street, Launceston when she died at the age of 90 on 13 January 1882. 

In the new country, William and Ann had a least five further children all born at Launceston. These were: William 1855, Thomas William 1857, Charles 1859, Martha Ann 1861 and Annie Elizabeth 1864. Of William and Ann’s five children who survived to adulthood  (William and Thomas William  died young) only Elizabeth made a life in Tasmania – the others  went to the state of Victoria. 

William Whatmore born about 1820 at Mortlake died at Launceston on 4 February 1892. After his death, his wife Ann must have gone to live with one of her children in Victoria as she died there on 4 March 1899 at Carlton. 

We now turn to Charles Whatmore born in 1859 at Launceston, the son of Wiliam and Ann. Charles married a Blanche Jefferies. They lived first at Fitzroy in Victoria, then at Clifton Hill in Victoria and later at Hamilton Victoria. Fitzroy and Clifton Hill are today adjacent surburbs of Melbourne and are about four kilometres from the main business district. Hamilton  is about 50 kilometres inland and is about  285 kilometres west of Melbourne. It is situated on a lake and is described today as ‘the wool capital of the world’ so perhaps Charles Whatmore  was involved in some way in the wool industry. 

For more information about Hamilton please follow this link:http://www.visitvictoria.com/displayobject.cfm/objectid.0004FD87-085C-1A65-88CD80C476A90318/  

Charles and Ann had twelve known children, nine of whom survived to adulthood and who all remained in the state of Victoria. The children were May Victoria 1884, Clarind Maud 1885, William T 1887, Susan Ann 1888, Rosina Bertha 1891, Blanche 1893, Ernest George 1893, Florence Lilian 1895, Beatrice Ester 1898, George Charles 1900, Leonard E 1903 and Alexander Russell 1906. Charles Whatmore died at Hamilton on 28 January 1921. His wife Blanche died at St Kilda on 23 June 1939. 

Richard Whatmore born 1836 at Mortlake 

Richard Whatmore was the son of  Thomas Whatmore and Ann nee Fisher. We do not know when he went to Australia – the earliest record of him there is of his marriage to  Elizabeth Brightwell  on 8 August 1864 at Cresswick in the state of Victoria. Richard died on 27 August 1917 at Smeaton in the state of Victoria. Kingston, Victoria is a very small town close to Ballarat as are the other places what the Whatmore family settled – Smeaton and Creswick. They are some 85 kilometres north west of Melbourne. Ballarat itself is today the largest inland city of the state of Victoria , located in the Central Highlands. It was just a small township when gold was discovered in 1851 and the population rose within two years to 40,000. it has many fine old buildings 

For more information on Ballarat please follow this link:http://goaustralia.about.com/od/vicsightseeing/a/ballarat.htm 

Click to enlarge

 Click to enlarge

 Richard and Elizabeth had a large family of children. These were: 

Elizabeth Agnes Whatmore was born in 1865 at Kingston. She married John Barnes in 1891 in Kingston. They had two children – Thomas lean Barnes born 1892 at Richmond and Arthur William Barnes born 1894 in Richmond. Elizabeth Agnes  died on 17 August 1914 at Cresswick in the state of Victoria. 

Hannah Blanche Whatmore was born in 1867 at Kingston. She married James Benjamin Charles Balfour in 1892 at Ballarat. They had fourteen children all born in Ballarat.  These were – Elsie Agnes 1893, Jessie Selina 1893, Ruby Irene 1896, Ivy Blanche 1898, Alexander Duncan 1900,  Ella Robina 1903, Donald Richard 1906, Henry 1907, Alan Kenneth 1907, Alexander James Edward 1910, Elsie Margaret Blanche 1912,   Lilian May 1914, Charles Ernest 1916 and George William 1917.   Hannah Blanche died on 12 May 1946 at Ballarat. 

Minnie Ann Whatmore was born in 1870 at Kingston. She married James Edward Clarke in 1889 at Smeaton. James Edward Clarke was Minnie’s cousin. He was the son of Elizabeth Whatmore who was the daughter of Thomas Whatmore and Ann nee Fisher.  Minnie Ann and James Edward Clarke had twelve children -  William Edward Wesley Clarke 1889 and killed on 14 August 1916 in France, Percy Charles Clarke 1891 and killed 24 July 1916 in France, Martha Ann Clarke 1892, Mabel Blanche Clarke 1894, Alfred Roland Clarke 1896, Adrian Andrew Clarke 1899, Aubrey Caleb Clarke 1901, Loftus James Clarke 1904, Ralph Walter Clarke 1906, Sophie Sappaira Clarke 1908, Harriet Minnie Owen Clarke 1911 and Daisy Elizabeth Clarke 1914. The family lived at Mole Creek, Tasmania where James Edward Clarke was a farmer. James Edward Clarke died in 1936 at Latrobe, Tasmania.  Minnie Ann died on 11 June 1961 at Mole Creek, Tasmania. 

Edward William Whatmore was born in 1870 in Kingston. He married Margaret Ellen Jones in 1913 in Smeaton. They had one child born in 1915. Edward William died in 1940 in Cresswick. 

Martha Edith Whatmore was born in 1872 in Kingston. She married Robert George Fry in 1899 at Ballarat in the state of Victoria. Their children were all born in Collingwood – Viola Edith 1898, Elizabeth Agnes 1899, Winifred, and Minnie 1901. Martha Edith died in 1952 at Fitzroy, a suburb of Melbourne. 

John Thomas Whatmore was born in 1874 in Kingston. Records show that between 1928 and 1936 he was at Emu Bay, Burnie, Tasmania.  He died on 8 August 1965 at Ballarat, Victoria, Australia.

Charles Richard Whatmore was born in 1877 in Kingston.. He married Isabella Yelland in 1895. Their children were Charles Vincent 1914, Clarice Winifred 1916, Floris Daphine 1916, Edwin John, Ruby Irene, and Violet May. Charles Richard died on 8 July 1965 at Ballarat.

 Frederick George Whatmore was born in 1878 at Smeaton. He married Bertha Florence Yelland in 1911 at Smeaton. Their children were Agnes, Florence, Phyllis, Ruth, an unknown child, William, Wilma May, Catherine Elizabeth, Richard Albert, Fredrick Thomas, Alfred, Harry, Ernest James, and Norman Linton. It would appear that Frederick George and Bertha were divorced at some stage since the records show that later on Frederick George married an Eleanor Crosby. Frederick George Whatmore died in 1963 at Bendigo in the state of Victoria. 

Bessie Marion Whatmore was born in 1881 in Kingston, Victoria. She had two children - Marion Whatmore born in 1911 and David Whatmore born 1920 and who died the same year. Bessie Marion never married. She died on 30 March 1968 at Randwick, New South Wales, Australia.

Alfred Wesley Whatmore was born in 1883 in Smeaton. He married Lucinda Harriet Kay  in 1910 at Smeaton. Their children were Alfred Richard Whatmore and Leonard Wesley Whatmore. Alfred Wesley Whatmore died in 4 March 1965 at Bendigo.  

Harry H Whatmore was born in 1886 in Smeaton. He married Bridget Duggan. Their children were Harry Ernest Richard Whatmore, Eira May Hannah Whatmore, and Eric Paul Laurence Whatmore. Harry H Whatmore died on 7 June 1975 at Ballarat. 

Walter Clyde Felix Whatmore was born in on 15 February 1891 in Smeaton. He was a tall slim man, 5 foot 8 eight inches high, and had brown eyes. Walter enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy in 1912 and served until 1919 fighting in the First World War. In 1917 he became a deep sea diver. He married Agnes Augusta Davies in 1915 at Footscray in the state of Victoria. Their children were Edwin Walter 1916, Alice Agnes 1918, Mavis Elizabeth Emily 1919, Rose Edith 1921, Richard Benjamin 1922, Beryl 1928, and Joyce Violet 1930. Agnes Augusta died in 1937 and Walter Clyde Felix Whatmore remarried to Martha Lake Smith. After the First World War, Walter worked in the Suggar Refinery at Yarraville. Walter Clyde Felix Whatmore  died on 26 September 1971 at Parkville in the state of Victoria. 

 Walter Clyde Felix Whatmore     Click to enlarge

Elizabeth Whatmore born in 1832 at Mortlake

 Elizabeth was the daughter of Thomas Whatmore and Ann nee Fisher. It seems likely that she accompanied her parents on the voyage to Tasmania. She married James Clarke in 1856 at Launceston, Tasmania. Elizabeth and James had four children: William Henry Clarke 1857, Elizabeth Clarke 1858, James Edward Clarke 1861 (who married his cousin Minnie Ann Whatmore), and Thomas Clark. James Clarke died in 1864 at Mole Creek, Tasmania and Elizabeth remarried to Andrew Richard Willcox in 1867. Elizabeth and Andrew had six children – Ethel Ann 1865, Andrew Richard 1867, Wesley 1869, Arthur George 1871, Martha Marion 1873 and Ernest Arthur 1875. Elizabeth died on 4 August 1915 at Mole Creek, Tasmania. 

So we reach the end of this brief account of the Whatmores of Mortake and their descendents in the southern hemisphere. They must have many descendants currently living in Australia and hopefully some of