I'm looking for ancestors of Stephen Wrathall, born about 1780, who emigrated to Tasmania, Australia in1830. His wife's name was Mary Ann. The family arrived on the ship Rifleman with 3-4 children and a baby; Stephen was listed as a Gentleman. I am one of his great-granddaughters.In Feb. 2005, Elaine A. Game , who is researching the line of Florence Jane Wrathall of Ballarat, sent a scan of a probate document concerning the will of Stephen Wrathall (1779 -1872). Elaine mentioned the following:
I have scanned the [probate document]; the difficulty is that it is an A3 document, so I have to scan it in two pieces and then stitch them together. I sent it to my photo workshop program and darkened the writing.Click HERE to view Elaine's scan of the probate document concerning Stephen Wrathall's will (268 kB); click HERE for the text version.
If I get down to Hobart, I intend to go to Cornelian Bay Cemetery to see if I can locate Stephen's grave site ... I am the Great-great-great-granddaughter of Stephen, and I have written to you before, as has my sister Noelene, the more precise and accurate collector of information.
I was sent a photo from a lady in New Zealand, [who] was over here in Tasmania and found Mary Ann Wrathall's grave at Hamilton. She sent me two photos, one of which [is] the grave photo itself. ... Carol Whitt, the lady who kindly sent me the photo of the grave of Mary Ann, did so after finding the Will I sent in to the Site. [Carol is researching the line of Ann Wrathall, who married William Coldicutt of Auckland in 1885. For further info on this line, see Descendants of Stephen Wrathall of New Zealand , compiled by Stephen H. Wrathall.]
Stephen, however, is not buried with his wife.... He was Church of England and Mary Ann was Wesleyan; perhaps that may be the reason for different burial sites. I have been in contact with Cornelian Bay Cemetery; no Stephen, but his son is there, William and his descendants. I did find Stephen and family listed in a census, as living at Newtown, Hobart. As he died in Hobart, it is possible he is buried in the Newtown Cemetery. Unfortunately, a lot of the smaller cemeteries here have been closed and in some cases built over. The Newtown one was closed in 1900, but may still have the grave stones there.
I got a few documents back from the Tasmanian Archives, but the will with probate is all they have. They don't know why it states "see page 317", as it's the same. I did however get three copies free, plus I got a copy of the death notice in the Hobart newspaper (the Mercury) for Stephen's death. It says he died in his son-in-law's home. [I also received] Stephen's Death Certificate, which doesn't tell us much more, and the memorial and tombstone Inscription of Tasmania for Mary Ann Wrathall.... I also found that William the Convict had applied to marry to the authorities; they had to do so if still serving a sentence.
D. 26 Feb. 1852 - 60yrs - SP: Stephen Wrathall - Hamilton St. Peters Anglican - Hamilton - Hobart - HA08/00154
Wrathall - on the 24th of October, at the residence of his son-in-law, Mr. H. Currey, New Town, Stephen Wrathall, aged 93 years. The funeral willl take place on Monday afternoon, at half past one. Melbourne and New Zealand papers please copy.[According to her IGI Individual Record, Stephen Wrathall's daughter Ann (1814 - ) married Hugh Currey in 1832. See the section on Ann Wrathall.]
Number When died Name and Surname Sex Age Rank or profession Cause of Death Signature, Description and Residence of Informant When Registered Signature of Deputy Registrar 1141 24th of October, 1872 Stephen Wrathall, (Died New Town), (Born Yorkshire) male 93 years Butcher Old age Robt. Armstrong, Coroner's Constable, Argyle Street 25th October, 1872 H. J. Buckland
Wrathall / Weathall StephenAlso in Apr. 2006, The Gardens - Family History web page Cemeteries - St John's, New Town, Hobart , which may be able to provide links to photographs of the headstones, had the following entry:
Stephen WRATHALLIn May 2006, Carol Whitt, who can be reached at gwhitt(at)netspace(dot)net(dot)au, was able to locate the gravestone of Stephen Wrathall:
Died 23 Oct 1872
Aged 93 years
We have just had a few days in Hobart, and, armed with photos from The Gardens - Family web site, we found Stephen's grave stone. We went out to St. John's Church in Newtown and spoke with the Reverend David le Rossignol, who told us Stephen was buried in plot no. A53 in the burial ground to the left of the church. In 1963 the headstones were removed and relocated in Cornelian Bay Cemetery. Stephen's son-in-law [Hugh Currey] and some of his family are also buried at St. John's, and their headstones are also at Cornelian Bay. Hugh Currey's is just behind and one to the right of Stephen's.Carol sent several photos:
We also went to the Archive office and found that on July 1836 Mary Ann (9 yrs) and Lupton (7 yrs) were admitted to the St John's Orphan school and discharged in June 1838. I guess things were pretty tough for the family for a while.
Stephen's headstone is rather hard to read but I feel pretty sure it says
[Sacred]
To the Memory of
Stephen Wrathall
Who departed this life
24th October 1872 Aged 93 Years
Be Ye always Ready
Although not an accurate record, it is my understanding through reading the biography of Stephen Wrathall that his marriage to Mary Ann took place aboard the ship that came to Australia. This information has come from a diary of Stephen Wrathall that is meant to be held in the Brisbane museum.This diary was also mentioned in 2001 by Derek Wrathall, in regard to the landing of Stephen Wrathall in Mangonui , from Richard T. Wrathall's biography of Stephen: which implies that Richard T. Wrathall read or had seen or heard reference(s) to Stephen's diary, and that, if Stephen's diary exists, Richard's descendants may have access to it, or one of the museums in Australia may have it.
