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Isabella Lansdown was born 4 September 1851 in Hunter Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia to Thomas Lansdown (1817-1885) and Jane Kelly (c1830-1872) and died 12 July 1911 Orange, New South Wales, Australia of unspecified causes.

Alternative names: Anne Maidman, Anne Lansdown, Isabella Digby, Isabella Conquit.

Isabella was named after her mother's sister and mother who were both also named Isabella.

Isabella's father was Thomas Lansdown, a farmer. Thomas Lansdown had changed his name and occupation in 1851. He had previously been known as Thomas Digby, a baker, confectioner (baker of cakes), and brewer at Yass. In 1851 he moved with his wife, Isabella's mother to Sydney where before Isabella was born he changed his name to Thomas Lansdown. In 1852 he left Isabella and her mother in Sydney while he tried his luck, with some success, at Braidwood as a gold-digger during the New South Wales gold-rush. He had then moved Isabella and her mother to Goulburn where he again changed his occupation to farmer. Isabella had been told that her father had previously been a baker, and this was the occupation that she recorded for him when she married in 1900.

Born on 4 September 1851 at Hunter Street, Sydney, Isabella was baptised on 6 October 1851 as Isabella Landstone(sic) the daughter of Thomas Landstone(sic) and Jane Kelly. Curiously this baptism was at the Roman Catholic Church in Sydney when both her father Thomas Lansdown and her mother Jane Kelly are shown in the records as being protestant. Isabella was baptised by the Catholic Priest John Kavanagh, and Thomas Lansdown and Jane Kelly are shown as residing at Hunter Street in Sydney. Again curiously Isabella was rebaptised by Thomas Lansdown on 27 November 1857 at the Presbyterian Church in Goulburn. She was rebaptised as the daughter of Thomas Lansdown and Jane Kelly along with her younger siblings who had not previously been baptised.

The relationship between Isabella's parents Jane Kelly and Thomas Lansdown broke down in 1856 when Isabella was 5 years old. Isabella was then left with her younger siblings in the care of Thomas Lansdown as her mother had been compelled to leave her children behind. Thomas Lansdown then began a new relationship with Rebecca Best and they gave Isabella another 7 siblings.

Isabella's mother Jane Kelly also had another 5 children, only 2 of whom survived to adulthood. Isabella lost contact with her mother and youngest siblings when her mother moved to Sydney at the end of 1862.

In July 1874 22 year old Isabella faced a crisis. Isabella had left home in Goulburn, the man who had raised her as her father, Thomas Lansdown, and her step-mother, Rebecca Best, who had helped to raise Isabella from the age of 5, and moved to Redfern in Sydney where she was working to support herself. Also living in Sydney was her pregnant 20 year old sister Mary Anne Lansdown (1854-1921), pregnant to a boy in Goulburn, and her pregnant 21 year old sister Rebecca Jane Lansdown (1852-1923) . (It is possible that Isabella's other sister 18 year old Ellen Henrietta Lansdown (1856-1932) was also living and working in Sydney at the time.) Isabella's mother Jane Kelly had died alone in Sydney in July 1872. Isabella and her sisters had already faced the task of tracking down what had happened to Their mother. The tragedy was that they had not been in Sydney earlier to track down their mother before she died. Isabella and her sisters then had the sad task of communicating the news of their mother's death back to their family in Goulburn (which had then left her father, Thomas Lansdown, free to marry her step-mother Rebecca Best). Isabella and her sisters had also been faced with the task of locating her mother's 2 surviving youngest children Martha Digby (1857-1926) and Ann Jane Digby (1858-1943) who as young children had moved to Sydney with her mother. Fortunately both girls were well and working at apprenticeships, Martha at the Randwick Asylum for Destitute Children where both these girls had grown up. Now, however, Isabella had a new task, the task of trying to locate her younger brother 19 year old Thomas Lansdown (1855-) who had left home in Goulburn and not kept in touch with the family. Illiterate Isabella went to the newspaper office and paid for an advertisement to be placed asking for her brother "Thomas Lansdown or Frederick Davis" (an alias) to call into, or send his address to, the Cricketer's Rest Hotel at Redfern. She was hoping that someone who knew where her brother was would read the advertisement and tell her brother about it. It is not known if her brother Thomas was told about this advertisement, or when he again contacted his family, but it is known that he was living in Goulburn near his family when his step-mother Rebecca Best died in 1921.

Isabella's sister Mary Anne Lansdown had become pregnant to a local Goulburn boy, Charles Gale (1852-1877) in late 1873. An unmarried mother-to-be Mary Anne moved to Sydney. On 8 September 1874 she gave birth to a son, Charles Thomas Windsor Lansdown (1874-bef1921), in the maternity section of The Sydney Benevolent Asylum where her mother had given birth to her own youngest child 11 years earlier in 1863. The maternity section had been set up at the Asylum for the single pregnant women of the district, and also for married women who were destitute. Mary Ann had been transferred into the maternity section of the Asylum on 1 September 1874 after having lived at the Asylum since 28 July 1874 in the section that cared for the destitute. She had named the father of her baby, "Charles Gale, Wool Sorter, Goulburn". On 7 October 1874 Mary Ann and her baby son were discharged. Then on 15 June 1876 Mary Ann was again admitted into the maternity section at the Asylum with her son. She named the father of the baby she now bore as "David Brown or Dyger". On 9 July 1876 she gave birth to a baby girl that she named Mary Lansdown (1876-bef1921). In the interim, on unknwon dates, Mary Anne and the 2 children were discharged and readmitted to the Asylum which was also a charity for the destitute. On 25 November 1876 Mary and the 2 children were discharged, but were then brought back to the Asylum by the police the same day and were readmitted. Then on unknown dates Mary Anne was discharged with the 2 children and later readmitted. Mary Anne was discharged, with toddler Mary, on 8 December 1877, to go and work as a servant for a Mrs Robinson. It is assumed that her son Charle remained at the Asylum. Mary Anne and her toddler Mary were again admitted on 22 March 1878, and discharged on 31 July 1878 but this time her son Charles was also with them. Then on 14 April 1879 Mary Anne, in labour, was again admitted into the maternity section of the Asylum with young Charles and Mary. No father's name was recorded. This baby did not survive, and Mary Anne, Charles and Mary were discharged on 19 May 1879.

A few months after Mary Anne Lansdown's first child was born in Septmeber 1876, Isabella's other pregnant sister, Rebecca Lansdown, gave birth to William Thomas Henry Lansdown (1875-1875) on 31 January 1875. She had been admitted "in labour" into the maternity section of the Asylum on 29 December 1874 and then kept in the Asylum until she gave birth a month later. She named the father as John Dyger. This baby died at the age of 12 days on 12 February 1875. Rebecca was discharged on 4 March 1876. Soon after she was discharged Rebecca began a relationship with David Forrester (1839-1907) and their first child was born in Sydney in 1877. They then moved away to Dubbo where their next child was born in 1879. They married at Dubbo in 1880, and their next 3 children were born there. They then moved to Orange by 1886 where another 5 children were born. Isabella and their sister Ellen Lansdown also moved to Orange.

In June 1876 Isabella's sister Martha Digby married William Hugh Rabbits Craddock (1845-1889) in Sydney. They went on to have 4 children. (Martha was to be a witness to the death of their sister Mary Anne Lansdown in 1921.)

By 1877 Isabella had entered into a relationship with Thomas Narin, a dairyman at Redfern. In May 1878 Isabella, using the name of Mrs Annie Maidman, was admitted into the maternity section of the Asylum and gave birth to a son who she at first named Arthur William Maidman, stating that his father was her husband William Thomas Maidman. Then on 24 January 1882 Isabella was again admitted to the maternity section, this time under the name of Annie Lansdown. With her was her son born in 1878 now known by the name of Arthur Thomas. The notes on admission state that Arthur Thomas had been born at the institution under the name of Maidman, and that at the time his mother had passed as a married woman. The father of Arthur Thomas Maidman Lansdown (1878-1891) , and the new baby, was noted to be Thomas Narin, a dairyman at Redfern. On 7 February 1882 Isabella gave birth to her second son Henry Thomas Lansdown (1878-1959). On 1 March 1882 Isabella and the 2 children were discharged.

In 1879 Isabella's sister Ann Jane Digby married John Poulter at Woollahra, Sydney. They went on to have 11 children.

On 8 April 1891 Isabella's eldest son, nearly 13 year old Arthur Thomas Lansdown, had a fatal accident where he fell from a milk cart at the corner of Riley and Oxford Streets, Sydney. He died in Sydney Hospital the next day. An inquest was held into his death, and his age was recorded as 13 years and 10 months (he was a year younger). The cause of death was "Accident Fracture". His occupation was listed as Carter, and his father was recorded as "Thomas Lansdown", labourer. His mother was recorded as Isabella Digby (Isabella was the daughter of Jane Digby nee Kelly), but when the death was registered the informant was Isabella Lansdown, "widow", landress, 1 Cooper Street. The records in regard to his death show that his mother, Isabella, did not want to admit that he was illegitimate.

In August 1885 Isabella's father Thomas Lansdown died at Goulburn. A few months earlier, in June 1885, Isabella's sister Edith Best Lansdown (1870-1885), the daughter of Thomas Lansdown and Rebecca Best, had died at Goulburn.

On 12 August 1886 Isabella's sister Ellen Lansdown married Walter Hardy at Orange. They went on to have 6 children.

In 1889 her sister Martha's husband William Craddock died in Sydney.

On 1 December 1894 Isabella's sister Mary Anne Lansdown married David Lamb Sutherland at Sydney.

In 1896 her sister Martha married George Jager in Sydney.

On 22 January 1900 Isabella married Henry Conquit at Orange.

In 1906 Isabella's husband Henry Conquit died at Orange, and the next year her sister Rebecca Lansdown's husband David Forrester also died at Orange.

On 8 July 1907 Isabella prepared her will which left all her possessions to her surviving son Thomas Henry Lansdown, at that time working on the Indian Railway and residing at Thansi, India.

On 21 July 1911 Isabella died at Orange. Her nephew Herbert Forrester, the son of her sister Rebecca Lansdown, was the informant for Isabella's death. He mentioned that Isabella's children were Thomas and another male, deceased. He listed Isabella's father as Thomas Lansdown, farmer, and her mother as unknown. (In 1923 he listed his mother Rebecca's father as Thomas Lansdown and her mother as Ann Jane Kelly. His grandmother's name was Jane Kelly, and Ann Jane was the name of one of his mother's sisters.)

In 1918 Isabella's brother Henry Thomas Best Lansdowne (1858-1918), the son of Thomas Lansdown and Rebecca Best, died at Goulburn. Henry had married Eliza Emily Ford in 1902 at Goulburn and had 2 children.

In 1921 Isabella's sister Mary Anne Lansdown died at Marrickville, Sydney. Her 2 children are listed as deceased. Also in 1921 Isabella's step-mother Rebecca Best died in Goulburn. It is not known when Isabella's brother Thomas Lansdown died, just that it was after this date.

In 1923 Isabella's sister Rebecca Lansdown died at Orange.

In 1926 Isabella's sister Martha Digby died at Petersham, Sydney.

On the 1930 Electoral Roll Isabella's son Thomas Henry Lansdown is shown as working as a Steward for the C.M. Mission in Francis Street, North Sydney. He died in Queensland on 12 February 1932. His father's name was given as Thomas Lansdown and his mother's name as Isabella Digby.

In 1932 Isabella's sister Ellen Lansdown died at Katoomba.

In 1933 Isabella's sisters Susan Best Lansdown (1862-1933) and Frances Mary Best Lansdown (1860-1933), the daughters of Thomas Lansdown and Rebecca Best, died at Goulburn and Muwillumbah respectively. Susan had married Robert George Edwards in 1885 in Goulburn and had 6 children. Frances had married James Marsh in 1886 at Goulburn and had 2 children.

In 1938 Isabella's sister Emma Best Lansdown (1866-1938), the daughter of Thomas Lansdown and Rebecca Best, died at Goulburn. Emma had married John Parnell in 1884 at Goulburn and had 6 children.

In 1943 Isabella's sister Ann Jane Kelly, died at Bronte, Sydney.

In 1845 Isabella's last surviving sibling, her brother Robert Best Lansdowne (1864-1945), the son of Thomas Lansdown and Rebecca Best, died at Goulburn. Robert had married Ada Mary Sidwell in 1885 at Goulburn and had 13 children.


Children


Offspring of Thomas Narin and Isabella Lansdown
Name Birth Death Joined with
Arthur Thomas Maidman Lansdown (1878-1891) May 1878 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 8 April 1891 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Thomas Henry Lansdown (1882-1932) 7 February 1882 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 12 February 1932 Queensland, Australia



Siblings


Offspring of Thomas Lansdown (1817-1885) and Ann Unknown (-1850)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Frederick Thomas Lansdown (1849-1910) 1849 New South Wales, Australia 20 December 1910 Merriwa, New South Wales, Australia Maria Gosper (1844-1910)
Thomas Digby (1850-1850) 18 May 1850 Yass, New South Wales, Australia 29 June 1850 Yass, New South Wales, Australia


Offspring of Thomas Lansdown (1817-1885) and Jane Kelly (c1830-1872)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Isabella Lydia Lansdown (1851-1911) 4 September 1851 Hunter Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 12 July 1911 Orange, New South Wales, Australia Thomas Narin
Henry Conquit (1863-1906)
Rebecca Jane Lansdown (1852-1923) 25 December 1852 Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia 6 November 1923 Orange, New South Wales, Australia John Dyger
David Forrester (1839-1907)
Mary Anne Lansdown (1854-1921) 21 January 1854 "Springfield", Tirranaville, Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia 28 March 1921 Marrickville, New South Wales, Australia Charles Gale (1852-1877)
David Dyger
David Lamb Sutherland (1860-1924)
Thomas Lansdown (1855-) 11 January 1855 "Springfield", Tirranaville, Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia
Ellen Henrietta Lansdown (1856-1932) 26 January 1856 "Springfield", Tirranaville, Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia 8 June 1932 Katoomba, New South Wales, Australia Walter Hardy (c1850-1904)
Martha Digby (1857-1926) 18 May 1857 Goulburn Hospital, Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia 20 August 1926 Petersham, New South Wales, Australia William Hugh Rabbits Craddock (1845-1889)
George Jager


Offspring of Thomas Lansdown (1817-1885) and Rebecca Best (1834-1921)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Henry Thomas Best Lansdowne (1858-1918) 12 April 1858 Quialigo, Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia 6 April 1918 Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia Eliza Emily Ford (1870-1953)
Frances Mary Best Lansdown (1860-1933) 7 April 1860 Quialigo, Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia 13 October 1933 Murwillimbah, New South Wales, Australia James Marsh (1860-)
Susan Best Lansdown (1862-1933) 10 May 1862 Quialigo, Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia 10 May 1933 Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia Robert George Edwards (1858-1910)
Charles John Hermans (1863-1941)
Robert Best Lansdowne (1864-1945) 1 August 1864 Quialigo, Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia 29 July 1945 Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia Ada Mary Sidwell (1869-1938)
Emma Best Lansdown (1866-1938) 1 June 1866 Quialigo, Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia 4 July 1938 Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia John Parnell (1865-1923)
Frederick Best Lansdown (1868-1869) 27 September 1868 Quialigo, Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia 1869 Quialigo, Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia
Edith Best Lansdown (1870-1885) 17 March 1870 Quialigo, Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia 3 June 1885 Boxers Creek, Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia

Residences

Footnotes (including sources)

† Baptism
  • Isabella's date of birth of 4 Septmeber 1851 was recorded at her baptism in Sydney on 6 October 1851. Isabella was baptised a second time on 27 November 1857 at Goulburn with her younger siblings. At this second baptism her date of birth was given as 5 September 1851.
2 Wedding 2
  • Place of birth: Sydney. Parents named at wedding: Thomas Lansdown & Jane Kelly. Isabella, who was illiterate signed the marriage register in 1900 with her mark (that is a cross). Witnesses at her wedding were her sister Rebecca (who was illiterate and signed with her mark) and Isabella's about 18-year-old son Thomas Lansdown (who was literate and signed with his signature).
¶ Death
  • Her children are mentioned in her death registration. Her place of birth was given by her nephew Herbert Forrester as Sydney. When he registered her death Herbert knew her father's name (his grandfather) was Thomas Lansdown but did not know her mother's name (his grandmother). When Herbert registered his mother Rebecca Jane Lansdown's death in 1923 he knew her father's name (his grandfather) was Thomas Lansdown but did still did not accurately know her mother's name (his grandmother) and recorded it as Ann Jane Kelly. Ann Jane was the name of one of his mother's sisters.


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