PENBERTHY to Sydney

[Jenny Jones]

My ancestor's brother worked on or supervised some construction on the Sydney Bridge, from what I have heard in the family history. He supposedly died while inspecting it.  He would have been born either in Cornwall, where some siblings were born, or in Sydney. His parents would have been Stephen and Mary Jane Penberthy, and his first name might have been Stephen or William or possibly some other name. It would be helpful to me to know more about where he lived and when he died, and what family he may have had, if anyone knows.  His siblings were born in the 1850s. Thanks very much.

[PrueM]

Hi Jenny,
Have you looked on www.bdm.nsw.gov.au?  You can search the historical indexes there for free, and can even search on parents' names for any children, even if you don't know the child's name.

The Sydney Bridge was completed in 1932 (I think!), if your ancestor died during its construction there may have been a newspaper report about it.  The State Library of NSW would have newspapers of the day.

Hope this helps
 
Prue

[Mungbeans]

The only one near the time of the bridge construction would be :

 16396/1932      PENBERTHY, FREDERICK W     
Father: JOSIAH     
Mother: SARAH     
Registration: SYDNEY 

If it was a construction accident there would also be an inquest.
http://www.sag.org.au/ozsources/inquest.htm

[Jenny Jones]

Thanks very much for this help. I was completely unaware of these websites. I'm so glad to know of them--I haven't done any searching in Australia before.  :)I agree Frederick looks most likely for the dates, but has parents I am not familiar with! I will have to see if there was perhaps a generation lost in the family story.

[PrueM]

Hi Jenny,
Certainly if his siblings were born in the 1850s, your William/Stephen/?? would have been a very old man to have been climbing bridges in the 1920s or 30s!!
The missing generation thing might be your answer - I have the same thing in my family on several occasions: wrong person attributed to an event. 
Let us know if we can be of any more help!
Cheers
Prue

[Jenny Jones]

Well, never really giving up on this story, today I came across a "Roll of Honour" which lists all the workers on the Sydney Bridge and those who died while it was being constructed. There is not one Penberthy. I don't even see any names of possible relatives. So where did that story come from? It sure has me  ???me confused.

[Jenny Jones]

I believe I have found the story and people I was looking for.
Stephen Penberthy, of the correct age to be the brother in question, died in a construction accident in Quorn in 1880. I don't know how the Sydney bridge got into it.
I found the story in an online newspaper.

[PrueM]

Well done, Jenny    Glad you have found your answer.
Maybe there was another member of the family who worked on the Bridge, and the two stories got mixed up somewhere?

Cheers
Prue