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Hi Simone, unfortunately there is only one hard cover of the book pertaining to the Bensons and I didn't write it for sale, it was written for our kids and grandkids to know where they came from. As I said many things came together to pose pictures and it depends whether your interest is with Barker or the Benson family backwards.

If it is the family backwards I can recommend documents to find on line so that you can look at them and see if they present the same picture to you as they did for me. Also the book that helps show the Benson family being involved in Shipping for nigh on 300 years.

As for Barker again I can point you to documents or articles I found that 'explain' some possible things to explain Barker's law and 'doctor' degrees and other co-incidences.

I did buy your book on line but as your line comes from Willis and Richard's through Eric it was more a help to see how the Temple line joined in.

As an aside Richard and I are 4th cousins -confirmed by DNA and our common line there is the Godwins. My interest was, till I gave up and decided it was too hard to prove, would be having us joined together into Henry Godwin Temple as well as our Godwin 3 times great grandparents. Cheers Angela             

Hi Ness66,

I would not be sure either, however our Woodhouse connections come from Jane nee Woodhouse who married we think a William Benson - they had two sons William and Thomas. Her brother was Hyman Woodhouse and her sister or William's was Emit Cliffe. When 'William' the elder died Jane married John Cowltas.  This as far as I've gone with this and it comes from a will held by the Whitby Museum and Phil Society.

That said my interest also lies  with the myth handed down through the Benson generations that we're related to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Arch married Mary Woodhouse his niece so the plot thickens.

We're in Australia and I noted that you have connections with Bensons in OZ. We're from Dr Barker Benson landed here 1841 and our story is on the Benson forum using same name as here. It's quite a read and found four relatives as a result.

If any of this rings a bell let me know otherwise it was good to have a chat which is what it is all about. Keep up the good work.

Cheers barkrels.   

Hi all,

I thought I'd be persistent and see if I could find anything on Barker and Hannah in NZ other than the place they got married. Instead found this document  'Journal by  ngairedith'

http://www.familytreecircles.com/passngers-of-the-catherine-stewart-forbes-wellington-1841-32720.html   

As I read it I realized a couple of things I hadn't noticed before:

1. The very young ages of the passengers.
2. A striking number of families with young 'teenage' girls and boys.
3. A person by the name of Mary Durham who in this document is described as a MATRON.
4. The fact that Hannah wasn't the only very young semptress.

Others seemingly travelling on their own are:

Amoss, Mary Ann - 19 - Dressmaker
Squire, Emma - 16 – Sempstress
Swaffer, Martha - 22 - Sempstress
Swaffer, Matilda - 19 - Sempstress

Many other girls in the families use the same title 'semptress' to describe their skills - one as young as 12 years of age.

I then thought that if you add Matron Durham who is 54 years of age (the oldest passenger) and at minimum five girls all calling themselves 'semptresses' could it be that they all 'belong together'

Maybe it's grasping at straws but a bunch of girls being allowed to go abroad under the patronage??? of an older woman seems a far more likely scenario than all these young ladies travelling on their own???

It doesn't rule out the possibility that Barker and Hannah eloped, but perhaps this is an avenue to set about discovering.

Cheers barkrels   
   

Maybe the answer is hidden in this notice on Trove

The problem with trying to treat Hannah as an individual in her own right  lies in the fact that in her day and age when she married she became Mrs. Barker Benson. Back in the deep recesses of my mind I knew I had seen this notice before on Trove and it at least establishes a relative connection.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/12964107?searchTerm=Vandervord,%20&searchLimits=sortby=dateAsc

Cheers barkrels

Here's the link for the Whitby Museum

http://www.archive.org/stream/reportofwhitbyli25whit/reportofwhitbyli25whit_djvu.txt

Cheers barkrels

PS: Isles of Pines....Hmmm what were Barker and Hannah thinking - Sandalwood Massacre and many more before April 1842 - were they related to Captain Nichols or something - 30 Sydney business men involved in a venture regarding sandalwood - Missionaries eaten by cannibals - The mind boggles.