Hi everyone,
I have a complex genealogical mystery and would greatly appreciate any assistance in researching my ancestor Alice Gurney (née Tietkens/Timkins).
Alice was a half-Aboriginal woman born to a European father and an Indigenous mother, but her exact birth details remain unknown. The earliest records I have found are the births of her first two children in Balladonia and her marriage to Charles Edward Gurney in Esperance in 1906. Family lore states that Alice was 25 at marriage, but I believe the certificate actually says she was 15, placing her birth around 1889-1890. This would mean she was just 12-13 when her first child was born—an uncomfortable but not impossible reality. Would she and Charles have been able to marry without obtaining permission from the Western Australian 'Protector of Aborigines'? Could any additional records—such as birth or marriage documents—help clarify her true age?
Alice’s parentage has been a long-debated topic. It was always believed she was the illegitimate daughter of explorer William Harry Tietkens and an Aboriginal girl named Mary/Mary Ann, who allegedly died in childbirth. Alice was reportedly taken in by the Murray family at Yalata Homestead before being placed with the Voakes family of Fowlers Bay/Coorabie, possibly for domestic duties or sponsorship. Unfortunately, no official documentation confirms this—though a captioned Daisy Bates photograph does mention the Murrays raising half-Aboriginal girls, lending some credibility to the story.
However, recent DNA research has challenged this family history. A UK-based Ancestry.com tree lists John Hauxwell as Alice’s father. While the tree’s owner cannot recall the exact source, I have confirmed DNA matches with Hauxwell’s descendants—yet none linking me to Tietkens. This led me to investigate Hauxwell further, and I found a compelling clue: an 1890 Adelaide hospital admission record. John Hauxwell appears as patient No. 3, while a woman named Mary Ann from Fowlers Bay is listed as No. 9. Further scrutiny suggests Mary Ann and another Aboriginal woman, Lizzie Miller (identified as A.B.L.), were likely sent to the hospital by the ‘Protector of Aborigines’ and may have arrived via steamship.
If this Mary Ann is indeed Alice’s mother, then this hospital admission would be the first real proof that she and John Hauxwell were in the same place at the same time—potentially leading to Alice’s conception later that year. The timing aligns with Alice’s suspected birth around 1889-1890, making this the strongest evidence yet that Hauxwell, not Tietkens, was her biological father. However, I am still struggling to verify whether any direct interaction between them occurred in the hospital. Would there be any surviving records—such as patient details, treatment notes, or government correspondence—that could shed light on this possibility?
Tracking Mary Ann beyond this record has been frustrating. I have searched coroners’ reports, prison records, and destitute children’s records for any trace of a Mary Ann (born around 1874) in South Australia but have found no clear matches. If anyone has insight into potential sources that might document her fate or link her to Alice, I’d be incredibly grateful.
Adding another layer of confusion, I still question where Tietkens fits into this. He was married to Mary Ann Long, who died in November 1890—the exact time our Mary was said to have died. However, newspapers list his wife’s age at death as 44, and she had a daughter, Emily, who appears fully European. Could there have been some mix-up in oral family history, or is there another missing piece to this puzzle?
I would deeply appreciate any help in researching Alice, her mother Mary, or any additional proof regarding the hospital connection between John Hauxwell and Mary Ann. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Amber
