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Cornelius was Louisa Sheaf's brother - he and another brother Aaron, and their father Aaron, were all in trouble with the law at different times.  Life was probably pretty hard for them all after the loss of Elizabeth and Constance.


sparkgirl - I have an Elizabeth Silvester as James Clark's wife, married 28 May 1797 St Mary's, Portsea, Hampshire, England, however I got this from other people's family trees, and I am not entirely convinced this is correct.  This Elizabeth was born in Farlington, Hampshire, which doesn't fit with the 1841 census record, and neither does her age, as she was born in 1773 so would have been about 68 in 1841, not 60. 

Other family trees also have two older siblings James (born 1795 - illegitimate) and Harriet (born 1798), but then there is a huge gap to Leah born in 1812, so I am wondering if James Clark and Elizabeth Silvester, with James and Harriet, may be a different family??  Have you come across them?

I also have another sibling for Leah, Jacob and Esau, and Adam - a sister Emily, born in 1817, but I can find no other records for her. 

Had another look at the 1841 census record, and there is a mark in the final column, where it indicates if they were born in Scotland, Ireland or elsewhere - it could be an I for Ireland ??

Hi DM Clark - I also have those eight names (I am Joseph's great-great granddaughter), though I have found Esther referred to as Hester in some records.  Aaron John was born 1853, and I thought he was the boy in the boat - I have only seen the article referring to an 8 year old.

I have a copy of Louisa's death certificate which says she was buried 9th May 1860 in the Christ Church burial ground,  Newcastle, NSW, though I have been unable to find any reference to her in any on-line cemetery records. 

I would be interested in knowing more about James's family - my great aunt has told me she remembers her mother talking about the "Pearly King", and I have read several interesting articles about him that both she and lindynz have forwarded.   I have found four possible children for James and Jessie in on-line records:  John (b 1844), Janet (b 1846), Arthur Campbell (b 1846) and James Colin (b 1848).  Are all or any of these correct?

Hi all

I found this discussion by accident.  I was 'Googling' 1855 Portsea Newspapers to see if I could find out what had happened to Elizabeth and Constance Sheaf as I knew they had died at about the same time, and I guessed it may have been some sort of accident, and it came up with this page. 

I am a descendant of Louisa Sheaf and Adam Clark through his son Joseph, who emigrated to NZ, so would love to compare notes with you Lindy. 

I had some of the information you have come up with too, but have learned a few new things from your page, and of course was pleased to find out what happened to Elizabeth and Constance - sounds horrific!   

Adam's death is a sad story too - according to the Sydney Morning Herald he was out fishing with his young son Aaron, who was about 8 at the time.  Adam fell overboard and drowned, and son Aaron drifted for about 10 miles before being picked up.  Mother Louisa died just a week later, leaving 8 children, aged from about 2 to 17.

Look forward to hearing from you