GEORGE ELDRIDGE 1817-1843

George Eldridge was baptised at Smarden in Kent, where his parents had married. He married Maria Ellis on 21 Apr 1837 at Ninfield, Sussex, England. Maria was the daughter of Edward Ellis and Fanny Lusted and was baptised at Ninfield on 23 Apr 1820. Their two daughters Charlotte and Jane were both baptised at Ewhurst, Sussex on 8 Apr 1838 and 16 Feb 1840 respectively.

They migrated to New South Wales on the ship William Turner arriving from London, Plymouth on 5 Oct 1841. George is shown as age 24, a bricklayer of Ewhurst, Sussex, son of Samuel Eldridge, a bricklayer living and Phoebe Cheeseman, his wife dead. Maria is shown as age 21, a house servant of Ninfield, daughter of Edward Ellis, a labourer living and Fanny Nelson, his wife also living. Charlotte is shown as age 3 on 7 Mar 1841 and Jane as age 1 on 18 Jan 1841.

Their daughter Charlotte married George Smith at Yass on 18 Mar 1853 and her usual residence is shown as Narran Gullen, Cavan and Jane married Reuben George Carter on 26 Mar 1855 at Murrumbateman near Yass and they moved to Yackandandah, Victoria probably after the birth of her first child. Both Charlotte and Jane remarried following the death of their husbands.

George Eldridge was shown aged 27 when he accidently drowned in the Hunter River at Hinton near Maitland, New South Wales on 12 Mar 1843. The Maitland Mercury of Saturday 18 Mar 1843 reported Death by Drowning as follows:

On Monday last an inquest was held at Berry Park, the estate of J. Eales, Esq., before J.S. Parker, Esq., coroner, on the body of George Eldridge, who was accidentally drowned on Sunday morning while crossing the Hunter, near Mr. Jermain's farm, in the company of two other persons, in an old boat that was hardly safe for one man to have ventured in. One of the party, named Hall, who had come from Maitland that morning, had a very narrow escape, and was saved by taking hold of a dog that was in the boat at the time, and which kept him above water till rescued from his perilous situation by one of Mr. Jermain's servants. A verdict of accidental death was returned. The deceased has left a wife and two children to lament his untimely end. The man who took the body out of the water was entitled to a reward of five shillings, which he requested the coroner to hand to the widow of the deceased.

It is possible that George had three children, not two, when he drowned or Maria was then pregnant or (more likely) she later had a child to an unknown father as she is taken to be the mother of a Mary Ann Eldridge who married at the District Registrar's Office, Yass on 23 Aug 1870 with her parents not being recorded. She records her birthplace as Hunter River on the birth registration of her two children born before she married in 1870. Robert Pucket is noted as the father for the birth of Ellen. On 29 Jun 1880 Mary Ann was baptised in the Catholic Church at Yass and she showed her parents as George Eldridge and Mary Harris. Mary Ann died at Temora on 8 Jan 1912 and was shown as aged 72 born Maitland with her parents unknown.

George Fletcher & Elizabeth Eldridge

James O'Donnel & Mary Ann Eldridge with son John

Maria Eldrige (sic) with residence shown as Narrangullen Cavan was shown as the mother of Thomas, born 18 Nov 1848 and Ann, born 24 Sep 1851, when they were both baptised at Yass on 18 Mar 1853. The name of their father was not stated.

Maria remarried as a widow on 11 Feb 1861 at Goulburn to John William Hall. His residence was recorded as Nanima Creek. She was recorded as the daughter of Edward Ellis and Frances Robinson and her place of birth as Enfield, Sussex. She died at Nanima Creek, near Yass, on 29 Jun 1896. John was the informant on her death registration and he recorded her first spouse as J Ellis and No Issue for children of marriage, presumably meaning his.

Updated 8 September 2024

Maria Ellis (1820-1896)
m 1837 George Eldridge (1817-1843)
|   |
|   Charlotte Eldridge (1838-1928)
|   m 1853 George Smith (1821-1880)
|   |   |
|   |   Susan Smith (1851-1922)
|   |   Martha Smith (1853-1899)
|   |   Louisa Smith (1855-1929)
|   |   Charlotte Smith (1857-1943)
|   |   Mary Jane Smith (1859-    )
|   |   George Henry Smith (1862-1934)
|   |   Thomas James Smith (1864-1958)
|   |   Maria Smith (1866-1961)
|   |   Alfred Smith (1869-1935)
|   |   William Smith (1872-1947)
|   |   Edward Charles Smith (1875-1952)
|   |   Amy Elizabeth Smith (1877-1878)
|   |   Hannah Elizabeth Smith (1879-1964)
|   |
|   m 1881 James Privett (1812-1901)
|   |
|   Jane Eldridge (1840-1924)
|   m 1855 Reuben George Carter (1829-1871)
|   |   |
|   |   Alfred Thomas Carter (1856-    )
|   |   George Robert Carter (1858-1952)
|   |   Mary Jane Charlotte Carter (1860-1934)
|   |   Arthur Henry Carter (1862-1895)
|   |   Sarah Maria Carter (1863-1945)
|   |   Winifred Sarah Smith Carter (1866-1868)
|   |   Martha Caroline Edwards Carter (1868-1949)
|   |   Ralph Brown Carter (1871-1875)
|   |
|   m 1876 Alfred Jarvis (1835-1927)
|       |
|       Emma Matilda Jarvis (1877-1962)
|       Reuben Thomas Jarvis (1878-1951)
|       Ebenezer Augustus Jarvis (1881-1946)
|       Annie Rebecca Charlotte Jarvis (1884-1889)
|
(unknown) (    -    )
|   |
|   Mary Ann Eldridge (1844-1912)
|   (partner) Robert Pucket (    -    )
|   |   |
|   |   Ellen Eldridge (1864-    )
|   |   m 1886 Robert Pilcher (1865-1899)
|   |   |   |
|   |   |   Mary Ellen Pilcher (1886-    )
|   |   |   Margaret Pilcher (1889-    )
|   |   |   Ettie A Pilcher (1893-    )
|   |   |   Robert Colenso Pilcher (1900-1900)
|   |   |
|   |   m 1901 James Harris Thomas (1866-1937)
|   |
|   (unknown) (    -    )
|   |   |
|   |   Elizabeth Eldridge (1869-1927)
|   |   m 1890 George Fletcher (1862-1935)
|   |       |
|   |       William Fletcher (1892-1953)
|   |       Mary Fletcher (1894-1974)
|   |       John Fletcher (1896-1917)
|   |       Henry Fletcher (1898-    )
|   |       Alice Elizabeth Fletcher (1901-    )
|   |       George Fletcher (1904-1932)
|   |       James Glen Fletcher (1906-1944)
|   |       Frederick Fletcher (1908-1979)
|   |       Benjamin Eldridge Fletcher (1910-1970)
|   |       Robert Fraser Fletcher (1912-    )
|   |
|   m 1870 James O'Donnell (1821-1901)
|   |   |
|   |   Margaret O'Donnell (1872-    )
|   |   Mary O'Donnell (1874-    )
|   |   Bridget O'Donnell (1876-1886)
|   |   James O'Donnell (1880-1883)
|   |   John O'Donnell (1882-    )
|   |   Maria O'Donnell (1885-1886)
|   |
|   Thomas Eldridge (1848-    )
|   Ann Eldridge (1851-    )
|
m 1861 John William Hall (1829-    )
    |
    John Hall (1862-1927)