By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
MANY Casey residents may be descendants of British agricultural labourers, according to an accomplished historian from the Genealogical Society of Victoria.
Historian Allen Evans was the keynote speaker at a special event held by the Narre Warren and District Family History Group this month, presenting to members the possibility they may be descended from English labourers.
Mr Evans, whose ancestry itself harks back to Somerset in the UK, said there were nearly 1.5 million agricultural labourers, farm servants and shepherds listed in the 1851 English census – the most common occupation group at the time, according to records.
“A lot of Aussies descended from English farm workers that were brought out in 19th century,” Mr Allen said, prior to his presentation at the Narre Warren Library.
“It’s likely that they would have a lot of descendants here, in the 19th century Australia had a lot of land and they needed help to work the land.
“A lot of people here didn’t have the skills to work land, so there was a big demand for farm workers to come from England.
“At the time English farm workers weren’t paid a lot of money and there were schemes that encouraged them to come out to Australian colonies and many of them took that up.”
Mr Allen, who has been researching his own family history for 25 years, told the Narre Warren members that records of a past relative’s existence can be found in many places often right under one’s nose.
“Farm workers you think wouldn’t have many records kept about them but in fact there are records in various places – newspapers and parliamentary reports which actually named them and gave information about them,” he said.
“It’s always nice to talk to people that want to know about their family history and help them consider what else they can look up.
“I personally had a big breakthrough after 25 years with one of the branches of my family, where I discovered new records online.”
Next month the Narre Warren and District Family History Group member Brenda Wheeler will speak to the organisation about her recent journey to the UK, where she traced her family history.
For more information about the Saturday 12 July event, contact Lynne on 8787 5558.
