Discoveries from the 1921 Census of England and Wales
Cornelius Bray, now know as "The Rogue" in our family, was born on 18 September 1862 in Carnkie, Cornwall. He was the younger of the two children of James Bray and Mary Jane Pascoe. His sister, Elizabeth Jane (known as Bessie), was born two years earlier.
James and Mary Jane married in Carnkie just a few months before Bessie was born. James was a twenty five year old tin miner and Mary Jane was twenty two. James died on 22 May 1864 having suffered from consumption (tuberculosis) for the months. He was the first of my great-great-grandparents to die.
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| James Bray's death certificate purchased in 2016 |
Cornelius was only twenty one months when his father died. He would go though his life without any memory of James and never knew his only child, Jim Woodlands, either. The common name between Cornelius's father and son is a coincidence. Jim Woodlands' birth was registered as Oswald Cahill. His name was changed (informally) to James Oswald Woodland when he was eight and his mother commenced her relationship with James Woodland who became her husband two years later. The "s" was added to the family name when my grandparents married in 1919.
I wonder if Cornelius was a lonely man who missed family life. He was twenty when he arrived in Australia and never saw his mother or sister again. He remained single until his death in 1940 in Sydney although he spent many years in Cobar working as a monumental mason.
As I gathered more information about my Cornish family, the death date of my great-great-grandmother, Mary Jane Bray (nee Pascoe), eluded me. Here she is in the 1911 England Census living in Carnkie. There's even her signature which is unlikely to be Mary Jane's as other certificates just bear her mark indicating she couldn't write.
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| From Ancestry.com.au |
Mary Jane Bray is a common name in Cornwall. Early on, I purchased a number of death certificates for Mary and Mary Jane Brays but none were my great-great-grandmother.
So my first search when the 1921 England Census came on-line was for Mary Jane Bray. She wasn't in Carnkie but seventy kilometres away in Liskeard living with her daughter, Bessie. It's connecting all the dots that's so important for family history. Bessie was living with her mother at the time of the 1891 England Census but wasn't with her in the 1901 England Census. Had she died, married or simply moved away?
Elizabeth Jane Bray is another common name in Cornwall. It was reading Cornelius's 1939 will that provided the link. He referred to his sister as "Bessie, the wife of William James Pascoe" living in Liskeard. She'd married William Pascoe in 1898 when she was thirty seven. Of course, William Pascoe is another common name in Cornwall and her mother's maiden name was Pascoe.
A few more searches and there it was....Mary Jane Bray died on 10 May 1923! She'd lived fifty nine years after the premature death of her husband and not seen her son for thirty eight years.
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| From Ancestry.com.au |
So on the very day the 1921 Census of England and Wales became available on-line, I had my great-great-grandmother's death certificate.
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| Mary Jane Bray's death certificate purchased 2022 |
Seems that her son-in-law didn't quite know her age was eighty four and not seventy seven. Likewise, I hadn't counted on her living until that age and limited my search to women who'd died in the 1910s.
Cornelius is my only great-grandparent not born in New South Wales. His parents, James and Mary Jane, are my only great-great-grandparents who were never in Australia.
James Bray and Mary Jane Bray (nee Pascoe) are now bookends for my great-great-grandparents with James being the first to died and Mary Jane being the last to die.
I'd love to know more about Mary Jane and to visit her resting place on the centenary of her death in 2023.
