personalhistories

[personalhistories]

Irish/German line

While researching my Irish and German familial lines:

from my grandfather’s father, Edwin Carpenter - Rose Maria Snook (his mother) - William John Snook 1811-1884 (her father) - Esther Gillian 1783-1846 (his mother) - William Gillian 1753-1792 and Katherine Minser 1761-1792

I found this intriguing story: 

“William Gillian of Stronoken Bridge, Antrim, Ireland, came to America about 1773, having participated in a rebellion against the English, fled from his home and came to the American Colonies, leaving his wife and daughter. Either deliberately, or believing his wife dead, because of the uncertainty of communication, he married an American girl, Katherine Minser. They had six children. His first wife was Sarah Dunshee.

One evening two callers appeared at his home--a woman, whom he introduced as his cousin from Ireland, and her daughter. The "cousin" talked most of the night, and something aroused the American wife's suspicion. Upon confronting them in the morning, she learned the truth--the "cousin" was in reality his wife, so she left, taking her children with her. 

The oldest one, Amy, was adopted, taken west, and lost sight of. John Riheldaffer, a son of Katherine, was a minister in St. Paul, Minn. Phoebe and her husband George Stuck, are buried in Evergreen Cemetery (Fairfield, Iowa) beside Casper and Esther Snook.

The Irish wife went back to him and they had another daughter, Sarah, so that the oldest and youngest children were children of the Irish wife. William Gillian married in Ireland, Sarah Dunshee, and had a daughter born before 1773.”

Not immediately trusting William Gillian’s story of participating in a rebellion against the English, as he had lied to his wife, my 5th great-grandmother, and upon initial searching could not find an Irish rebellion taking place in the approximate time period I eventually stumbled upon this:

“In the 1770s, twenty years before the United Irishmen, there occurred an armed rising by the poor people of Ulster, mainly Presbyterians, against injustice and oppression. The rising was to last almost four years. It witnessed assemblies of armed men, the storming of towns and even battles. Writing a hundred years later, W.E.H. Lecky described it as a ‘formidable insurrection’. To many at the time it seemed that society was about to be overthrown and even the influx of large numbers of troops into the area did not immediately put an end to it. 

The alarm engendered by this insurrection is clear in a letter from a landlord to Sir George Macartney, the Lord Lieutenant’s secretary:

I want proper words to convey adequate ideas to picture the danger I have reason to believe my own life, the lives of my family, and the utter destruction of my worldly substance is in, from an abon’d, illoyal, lawless, irreligious banditti who have armed themselves in this part of the country to the great terror of every of his majesties liege subjects, and more especially to those of them that enjoy any kind of property.

In the second half of the eighteenth century King George III and his government still lived in fear of a repeat of the 1745 Jacobite rebellion. However, this rising was started by poor tenants fearful of eviction.

Donegall’s debts

In 1769 the fifth Earl of Donegall was among the largest landowner in Ireland. His estates were counted in thousands of acres. Even one of his tenants might lease as much as 7,000 acres, which would be sub-let to farmers in small plots. He also had estates in England and along with the title inherited the accumulated debts of his forefathers. Faced with large debts and expenses, the fifth earl needed to raise money badly. He decided to make his estates in Ulster financially viable. The plan was to replace the smaller tenants with more substantial ones so as to increase the rents and to charge fines for the granting of new leases. This overhaul began on lands held by the middleman, Clotworthy Upton, and was immediately opposed by the tenants there. These tenants banded together for mutual support, refusing to pay increased rents or to accept new leases. Their great fear was that the changes proposed by Lord Donegall would result in the eviction of hundreds of families. They carried out acts of violence against Clotworthy Upton and tenants who accepted new leases. As the re-organisation spread to lands held through other middlemen (as well as those held from Lord Donegall directly) so too did the violent protest. The rebellious tenants became more organised, forming recognisable groups under specific leaders. They became known as the ‘Hearts of Steel’, or ‘Steelboys’, and under this name carried on a campaign of protests and outrages for the next four years. Lord Donegall was not the only landlord who was attempting to improve his estates, nor the only one to give offence to his tenants, and so other tenants followed their example and formed Steelboy groups. Their grievances related not only to landholding but also to paying tithes to the established church and the county cess.”

There’s more to it as well, and it’s quite an interesting read, but judging by the time period given and where my grandfather, William Gillian was from it seems like a very strong possibility he was in fact a Steelboy and part of this uprising (Antrim, his birthplace is in the historical province of Ulster where this rebellion took place)

TLDR: Irish 5th great-grandfather was probably a poor tenant of a wealthy land-owning class, participated in revolution against them and their unfair rents and eventually expanded to include causes like unfair tithes (church tax essentially)

You can read more about the uprising here:

https://www.historyireland.com/illoyal-lawless-irreligious-banditti/#:~:text=In%20the%201770s%2C%20twenty%20years,of%20towns%20and%20even%20battles.

All in all, quite a neat find.

[personalhistories]

Inuit line (continued)

Digging deeper into this line will, unfortunately, be impossible as we’ve discovered - it ends, sadly with Attingarek. As it turns out, disease wiped out almost the entire population of Kukpugmiut - and the survivors amalgamated into the Inuvialuit population - Walter Vanast published all credible sources on known survivors none of which include any of her family - therefore, tragically this is where my spouse’s Inuit roots end as far as we can track

[personalhistories]

Interview with Sang Mêlé (cross-posted to the MixedAcadians subreddit)

A big thank you must go to the folks at Sang Mêlé for taking the time out of their day to do a short interview for my blog

Preface: Sang Mêlé, is a website that, for lack of a better explanation, has essentially the same mission statement of this blog- to foster discussion around this unique heritage, while respecting the fact it is entirely separate from Metis,furthermore it is posted here as it relates strongly to the field of genealogy and family history

Who are you (collectively speaking)? I understand you said you're a group of "amateur researchers" but what drew you to the topic?

We are a duo driven by the fact that we carry this identity, standing somewhere between Acadian and Mi’gmaq. We both still have oral histories in our family speaking of our origins being mixed, indigenous/French. For example, my grandmother always said we were not Acadian but Normand/Mi’gmaq. We try to stay as far away as possible from politics, yet we are aware that just to be interested in this topic these days is political whether we want it or not.

With how pervasive the Membertou line is in online trees, how important do you feel it is to call out these occurrences and falsehoods when they pop up?

We believe it is really hurtful at many levels. That’s why we try to bust as many myths as possible. Created indigenous identity has made a mess that might take more than a generation to fix. It has become a serious form of cultural appropriation and is making a real dialogue impossible. I believe out of people claiming some form of eastern mix-blood identity there might be no more than 20 - 30 % that have a valid claim, but again it is more important for us to keep doing the research and bringing back the memories then to draw a line at this point. But these myths are persistent, those made up indigenous ancestors are only bringing a huge amount of distortion in the conversation. But patience, tolerance, kindness and to keep an open mind is important this world has enough rage and fear as it is.

I read the article about Antoine, and it made me think of how my great-grandmother practised divination (not my Acadian line), and was wondering in your estimation how common do you suppose were families hiding their cultural ceremonies in general?

Specifically for ceremonies I cannot tell. Yet I presume, as ceremonies were made illegal and Catholic church having such a strong hold on what’s wrong from right morally, that many remained secret. Similar stories were being experimented by first nation communities. The fact that these stories survived, is also an indication of the importance and presence of those beliefs in our families. Not an easy question to answer since it will mostly be based on my personal interpretation. But the generation of our grandmothers and before was living in a world where fantastic being, little people and so on were alive and well.

Do you think Mixed Acadians, as a community, has an opportunity in modern Canada to establish their distinct identity in a similar manner to the Metis of the west? Could you see something like the "Powley decision" occurring in the Maritimes?

I am not a jurist and there are so many things I probably cannot grasp when it comes to the interpretation of the Powley decision. But I believe so far there are two specific clusters of mixed-blood with a distinct and valid indigenous identity; Baie-des-Chaleurs and southwest Nova Scotia. The Baie-des-Chaleurs, for example, has a historic community being mention non-stop, from at least 1760 till today. It would need to be rooted in the present reality of the Maritimes which is Mi’gmaq’gi. It is unceeded Mi’gmaq territory and that is important to accept, recognize and implement. So would it be like the west? Never, since there is no need to be “like” the west and that’s the beauty of it.

I understand these are "drafts" but do you plan to publish your research at any point? Do you see it as valuable to the public at large?

To become an official publication that respects the rigour and standard of scientific papers, it would need some works, but yes the goal is to make it accessible to anybody who is interested in the topics. They represent potential research “trails” and are valuable for anybody looking for the truth. Being who we are is not an opinion or a fantasy, we believe it is a fact. So that’s why we share facts, whether they are found in archives, documents or oral histories. We let people connect the dots.

Thank you again for finding the time to answer.

Here is a link to their website

Here is a link to the subreddit

[personalhistories]

Update on Welsh Kale Price-Jones & Hughes

  I did find two sets of records indicating that John Jones was a “hawker”. A hawker sold trinkets/goods (”hawked” items like baskets, mats, chairs, etc.) 

he is found in this index listing him in 1881 in Wales, and this one from 1871

Of course, if you find your ancestor is listed as a hawker this is not a guarantee of romani heritage, but a darn strong clue. In my case, I did find those previous notices - I also discovered “Benjamin Price” Sarah Price’s father appears on a family member’s baptismal record, the parents are noted as a ‘Letitia Price’ born c. 1807 and one ‘John Jones’ born in 1801 (not the same John as above but likely a close relation)

Letitia has records noting her as a ‘gypsy’ (I avoid this word because it has been perceived/used as a slur in the past) offering another hint (or essentially outright confirmation in our case at this point)

The point here is keep searching and you’ll find a number of records beyond birth, marriage and death records that will be helpful!

[personalhistories]

Belgian + maybe Sephardic Jewish?

 My father’s last name is Deserranno, which can be traced back to Belgium and clear Dutch roots. The surname itself however, I noticed, was not Dutch but Spanish in origin.

 De Serrano (meaning mountains - possibly Castilian in origin apparently). 10 lines back I traced it to a Franciscus Matheus Serrano (the first to arrive in Belgium from Aragon, Spain - born in 1658) - I also discovered Belgium at the time was known as the Spanish Netherlands and under the rule of the Spanish crown. 

It is very possible to this ancestor of mine was Sephardic Jewish (Spanish and/or Portaguese Jewish) as it lines up in timeline with an exodus of Jews from Spain due to the Spanish Inquisition. However, at this time - I have neither confirmed nor disproven this possiblity - interestingly a second cousin of this line (named Hector Deserranno, arrives in Canada as well - I found them noted in the JewishGen database in Ancestory placed there as they departed from Antwerp (a well known Belgium Jewish community)

It is possible this line was in fact, Marranos forced or pretend converts to Catholicism who continued to practice Jewish faith in secret.

Interesting but still unconfirmed at this moment - will update as I uncover anything notable.

[personalhistories]

Inuit line

So this one is quite interesting

My spouse has a line through her great-grandfather Frederick Scott Brass, a veteran of the First World War who is -without much of a doubt- Inuit- 

what was previously thought to be Metis (as they were listed as Scotch breed - and settled in St. Andrews, Manitoba)

his father James Brass, passed away in 1910 in St. Andrews and is listed in 1901 as Scotch Breed

You’ll likely notice his birthplace is also noted as NWT (Northwest Territories) - on his HBC papers it lists him as being from the Mackenzie Delta area (the homeland of his mother Attingarek or her given name Maria Ross Brass - born in Kukpugmiut)

The above is the 1881 Canada census William Brass (James’s father is listed as Scotch - he is Orcadian), his mother Maria is listed as ‘Esquimaux’ 

William Brass and “Maria Ross” (Attingarek) were wed on an expedition - Maria was 13

the likelihood why this line was mistaken as Metis was due to the fact that the 1901 census lists them as being “Scotch breed” and while technically accurate a mixture of Scottish and Indigenous - this line through the Indigenous heritage is distinctly Inuit. It could be argued that due to their taking root in a Manitoban Metis community -they adopted more Metis cultural leanings- this line’s origins are vastly different than most

additional note on St. Andrews, Manitoba : This area comprised part of a Metis community known as ‘The Rapids’ so at this point they likely assimilated culturally into their neighbour’s community

[personalhistories]

Update : Baptismal records for Beaugrand dit Champagnes

[personalhistories]

Update : Baptismal records for Beaugrand dit Champagnes

[personalhistories]

Interesting Anecdote

While researching my wife’s Metis Hamelin’s I uncovered a curious story regarding one of her 6th great-grandmothers

Firstly, the couple in question is Antoine Tourangeau (1752-1833) and Marie Caribou.(1757-1778). Marie Caribou is an Innu / Montagnais and Antoine appears to be a French-Canadian who worked for the North West Company.

So for proper context, the family was settled at Ile-a-la-Crosse in Saskatchewan. 

Apparently one day she had, “accidentally heard someone talk about hell, and insisted so strongly to her husband that the two of them undertook a nearly three-hundred-league trip to the Red River in the middle of winter to be instructed in the principles of the Catholic faith”

While that trip would be a long one even today by car. This was in the early 19th century, and most likely either on foot or by wagon. As the writer points out, this was also in the dead of winter. She was apparently a very dedicated person!

[personalhistories]

The Lepines

My wife’s gr-grandmother on her father’s side, named Agnes Lepine died in 1991, a year after my wife was born.

Agnes’s father was Emile Ernest Arthur Lepine, whose spouse was Marie Julie or Julie Ann Cardinal depending on the source. They lived in a small Metis community known as Rooster Town. This community is where the modern Grant Park Shopping Mall in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada stands today. David G. Burley has an excellent article on the location and people living there.

The house occupied by Ernest and family in Rooster Town

Ernest’s parents were Louis De Gonzague Stanislas Lepine and Mathilda Perreault. Louis was one of Ambroise-Dydime Lepine’s children.

Ambroise-Dydime (my wife’s 4th gr-grandfather, born 1840, died 1923) and his brother Maxime Lepine are the bulk of whom I will discuss here.

Ambroise, pictured below, was a Metis political and military leader and one of Louis Riel’s greatest lieutenants .

Ambroise and Maxime’s parents were a Hudson Bay Company employed father, and a mother of mixed English and Saulteaux descent. Ambroise’s wife, Cecile Marion was French and Metis.

In the Provisional Government of Assiniboia that was set up during the conflict with the HBC (Hudson Bay Company), Lepine was elected to serve for St. Boniface. 

As mentioned before, Ambroise, during this period, served in a military function as well, possibly due to his supposed respect amongst fellow Metis buffalo hunters and trappers.

Ambroise had a very strong relationship with the Catholic Church and was heavily aligned with them as well. One Rev. Roderick MacBeth described Ambroise as standing “six foot three” and of, “splendid proportion”. It was Ambroise’s loyalty to the Chruch that ultimately seperated him and Riel.

Lepine was part of the tribunal that sentenced Thomas Scott to death. He was later arrested after Riel’s first rebellion in 1869 fell through. He was however spared from hanging, and granted amnesty, due to them fearing another uprising in Red River if the sentence were to pass.

Said of his other exploits :

Ater his release from prison on 26 Oct. 1876 Lépine maintained close contact with Riel and Taché and remained active in Manitoba’s French-speaking community. In 1871 he had participated in the formation of the Union Saint-Alexandre to protect Métis interests in the new province and in 1878 he was elected vice-president of the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste. The following year, when Riel tried to enlist him in the project of uniting the Métis and Indians of the northwest into a confederacy, he travelled to Montana Territory to meet with Riel. Although he spent the winter with the Métis of the region, he took the advice of Taché, who was worried about possible trouble in the northwest, and left before seeing Riel. This decision, and his siding with Taché over the Métis leader, seems to have been a turning-point. From then on he stayed out of Métis politics.

Maxime, his brother, was another Metis politician and activist. Like his brother, he served his community in the legislative assembly of Assiniboia. He was the seat representative of St. Francois Xavier-East. 

Unlike Ambroise however, he had more faith in Riel than the Church to protect the mixed lineage rights of the Metis (indigenous and Eurpopean settlers). Furthermore, despite being in his own words, “”not keen on war” Maxime served at the Battle of Fish Creek :

(a crucifix in one hand and a rifle in the other, according to Abbé Gabriel Cloutier) and at Batoche in May.

Regardless of his faith in the cause, the 1885 Rebellion still was defeated by Canadian forces, and afterward Maxime made reparations with the Church and withdrew from political life.

[personalhistories]

The Grays

Through my grandfather’s Coulter family, I am related to the Grays. More specifically, a Mary Gray (1822-), my 4th g-grandmother, whose parents are listed as ‘James’ and ‘Sophia’. Through some digging I uncovered a James Gray (1783-) and Sophia Sly (1794-1847) who approximately fit the ages and area. This line, similar to my Price-Jones are Roma. The Grays hail from England though, as opposed to Wales (Roma from Wales are known as Welsh Kale, and English are Romanichal).

EDIT: I managed to locate a marriage certificate that had Mary, her husband Francis Coulter and their respective fathers James (Gray) and John (Coulter)

James appears to be the son of John Grey (b. 1757) and Mary Thorpe (b.1763) who appears to have also married a Fowk or Fowkness Gray (likely John’s brother).

EDIT: Upon re-examination - it is entirely unclear whether John or Fowk are the father - however as they were brothers the consistency of the line remains the same as they had the same parents

 Sophia’s parents are James Sly (1760-1822) and Sophia Gray (b. 1764).

James Sly was the son of an Ambrose Sly (b. 1730) and that’s as far as I’ve been unable to uncover for that line. Meanwhile Sophia Gray’s parents are Thomas Gray (b. 1740) and Cordelia ‘Cadilla’ Gray (1733-1824). Her parents may have either been cousins of the same familial lineage or Roma often had private and public names often picking aliases that were common enough to hide themselves from authorities (such as Smith and Jones, among others, it often depended on where they lived).

Cordelia’s parents appear to be a Thomas Gray and Elizabeth.

I also found information about Cordelia’s brother Ossory Gray (b.1777), my 6th gr-uncle.

Sometimes called Old Horsery Gray or Sore-eyed Horsery Gray, he was an excellent fiddler. Of his skills, it was said,

when Horsery had heard a tune he could play it off straightway, putting in such ‘variations, grace-notes, shakes and runs’, that none of his confreres could compare with him. He played entirely by ear, and not from notes.

Stradling, Rod. “English Gypsy Musicians.” Boshamengro Book, Musical Traditions Record, www.mustrad.org.uk/pdf/373.pdf.

 The only other Gray I was able to find was Cordelia’s spouse’s (Thomas Gray) father, Charles Gray. That is the current extent of my research of this line.

[personalhistories]

Savoie Line(Revised, see Edit) Edit: Comeau / Roy Line

This post will be a lot more condensed and more like a summarization of this line.

 My connection to the Savoies are through my Lafond-Robert branch of my family tree, through the Lafonds. Whereas I previously discussed my metis lines, here I will discuss Acadian heritage, as while this is also a mixed lineage, it predates a distinct Metis nationhood.

 Acadians were early French settlers to North America who fought the British and lost, some of whose descendants later arrived in Louisinana. (Cajun is a bastardization of Acadian) Acadian marriages could also often be of mixed French and Indigenous unions, and this line was the result of one of those cases.

 EDIT : So, with further research I’ve discovered this whole line was very likely mislabeled / attributed - you can read more about it here but here’s a summary of the findings :

Catherine Lejeune was born in France around 1633. For almost a century, researchers speculated that Lejeune had been Mi’kmaq. This theory, based on a French historian’s faulty argument in the 1880s, led to a number of fanciful stories about her origins among genealogists. The most common, which continues to circulate widely today, claims that Lejeune is the granddaughter of Mi'kmaw Grand Chief Henri Membertou. There’s no evidence to support this claim.

Over the past 20 years, a number of historians of early Acadia have provided compelling documentary evidence that she was born in France. Plus, the results of genetic ancestry testing of nearly a dozen of her present-day descendants have consistently pointed to her French origins. There’s no longer a debate about Lejeune’s origins among historians.

Honore Savoie (1715-1797) is listed here on his baptism as sauvagesse, or a “savage”. He is my 8th g-grandfather.

Going up further that branch eventually leads us to Catherine LeJeune (1633-1672) and Francois Savoie (1621-1678). Catherine was Mi’kmaq. Her Grandfather is Henri Membertou, Grand Chief of the Mi’kmaq near Port Royal, Acadia and my 13th g-grandfather.

From Descendants des Familles Métis en Gaspésie

Membertou had a solid working relationship with the early French settlers and even went so far as to allow his immediate family, including himself, to be baptized (hence the Henri – after the late French King).

HOWEVER, I do have a line - the wife of Honore Savoie that does appear legitimately mixed French Acadian / Mi’kmaq heritage, through Anne Marie Comeau (1719-1757) born in Port Royal, Acadia.

Her parents are Joseph Comeau (1685-1785) and Marie-Anne Roy (1687-1765) - it is this Roy line that is the mixed line in question - it is still at this time unclear whether Marie Anne Roy’s mother, Marie-Christine Aubois (1775-1760) was mixed or full blooded, however her origins as at least partially indigenous background are not in dispute 

From the Acadian Project:

Marie was Metisse:

What evidence is there that Jeanne Mahis was Mi'qmak?

Parish Registries of Saint Jean-Baptiste, Port-Royal, Acadie: The 23 Oct 1703 baptism of Marie Francoise Roye, daughter of Marie Aubois and the 31 Aug 1708 baptism of son Renaud Roye of Marie Aubois and grandson of Jeanne Mahis both recorded by the priest Justinien Durand specifies Marie Francoise's and Renaud's mother Marie Aubois as Mi'qmak.

Renaud Roy’s baptismal record

The marriages of Anne, Jean, Marie and Marie-Magdaleine all registered by the same priest in 1703, 1710, 1717 and 1730 still specify the mother Marie Aubois as Mi'qmak.

Although Jeanne is not named in some sources as Marie Aubois’ mother, Marie’s Métis origins are not in question. DNA results confirm Amerindian origin. [sic]

Additional note: the usage of Metis here is likely incorrect here as the intention is to mean mixed heritage not distinctly Metis - I have left this in as it copied verbatim from the source

[personalhistories]

Metis Uncles

My 5th g-grandmother, through the Bibeau-Lavallee side is Marie Lavallee (1794-1876). She is of mixed indigenous and French ancestry, and her brother Dennis David Lavallee (1789-1858) self-declared as Metis. Their parents were Marie Peloquin (1760-) and Pierre Lavallee, (1754-1822) who is believed to have wintered at Matchedash Bay.

 Dennis has a recorded lot at Penetanguishene in A. C. Osborne’s list of Drummond Island Voyageurs.

Dennis helped defend Fort Michillimackinac during the War of 1812, and was thusly rewarded with a plot of land in a village of other Metis War of 1812 vets known as Tiny.

From Master’s Thesis in History,  Laurentian University, Micheline Marchand 2007 Eng. Version

My 5th g-grandmother through the Robert-Lirette-Beaugrand dit Champagnes, is named Marie-Amable Beaugrand dit Champagne (1790-) and like Marie Lavallee is of mixed French and indigenous ancestry. Again, she has a brother who self-declares in a document which states he, Emmanuel Beaugrand dit Champagne (1799-1872) is metis.

Emmanuel the elder’s father is listed as Baptiste Champagne referring to Jean-Baptiste Beaugrand dit Champagne and Marie-Amable Marion, his parents.

Emmanuel Beaugrand dit Champagne is the father of the more famous junior of the same name, the one pictured 

Third from the right, Emmanuel (1823-) the younger

who was a loyal lieutenant during Riel’s Rebellion. Furthermore the Beaugrand dit Champagne were one of the earliest families to settle Batoche. The site of the famous Battle of Batoche.

Update: Both of these lines are um iffy at best - in the sense that

1)  the Lavallee family above (Drummond Island Voyageur) is kind of in this weird space between a conflict between MMF and MNO regarding whether or not this counts as metis vs. simply a mixed indigenous person so to avoid debate / side-picking, we’ll leave it here

2) Despite the above 1870 census and a spouse’s scrip record Emmanuel Sr. is actually likely solely French Canadian - with the incongruency of these two records it can not be said with 100% certainly, but knowledge can only be relative to what we have sometimes so - currently we’ll presume him as such

[personalhistories]

David Jones

The following is the obituary of David Jones, my g-g-grandfather published October 14, 1935 in the Winnipeg Free Press

David’s parents appear to be David Jones (1862-) and Sarah Jane Pennington (1863-). 

David senior’s parents appear to be John Henry Jones (1822-1902) and Sarah Price (1820-1905)

The Jones and Price families are old Romani families hailing from Wales, and before that, England. Sarah’s father, Benjamin Price (1763-) appears on Harriet Jones baptismal record (Harriet’s parents are Letitia Jones��(nee Price) b. 1807 or 1811 and John Jones b.1801).

A further indication of the Romani heritage is John Henry Jones and Sarah Price re-appearing in Australia, this was common for UK roma families to get sent to various colonies as being a “Gypsy” was then illegal