What led Elizabeth and Thomas to Marylebone, or how they came to meet, is uncertain. However, on 12 November 1837, when Elizabeth was about 24 years old and Thomas, about 21, they married each other at the St Marylebone Parish Church in Middlesex[1]:
London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1932 via Ancestry.com
Elizabeth was baptised on 22 June 1813 in West Peckham, Kent; the daughter of Stephen and Susannah [Jackson] Large[4]. Her baptism record shows that, at the time of her baptism, the family was living at Hurst in Kent and her father, Stephen, was working as a labourer. Elizabeth’s forebears had been in Kent for at least seven generations, probably longer[5].
Life in Marylebone
We can only speculate about what made Elizabeth and Thomas decide to venture half way around the world to Australia in 1853. Most likely they were in search of a better future for themselves and their young family and they were probably drawn to Australia by family already there.
Thomas’ older brother, Henry Coop (abt. 1813-1884), a butcher, had been convicted of stealing two sheep in the Warwick Assizes, Warwickshire in August 1833. He was transported to Tasmania (then Van Dieman's land until 1856) as a convict (No. 14688) aboard the convict ship 'Moffatt' (voyage 115) arriving in Tasmania on 9 May 1834[21]. By 1853, Henry was a free man and living at Oatlands in Tasmania. He had been given a free pardon during 1845-46[22]. Thomas' sister, Alice, was also living in Tasmania. Alice was living in Hobart in 1853. She had travelled to Tasmania sometime before 21 January 1850 when she married Christopher Denton in Hobart[23].
A Move to Australia
At least two of Thomas' other siblings followed him to Australia at a later date - Samuel Coop in 1857[25][26] and Joshua Coop before 1856[27] Both died in Australia – Samuel in 1885 in Tasmania[28] and Joshua in 1892 in Victoria[29].
Elizabeth and Thomas and their family arrived at Port Phillip Bay in Victoria, Australia on 4 August 1853 having been aboard the ‘Marchioness of Londonderry' for just over 3 months. It appears they stayed there for a couple of months, perhaps waiting for a passage on to Tasmania to join family there. The date of their onward travel to Tasmania is uncertain. They may have been aboard the ship Tasmania II which left Victoria for Hobart during October 1853. However, while the shipping record looks like it more than likely belongs to them, some of the details on the record are incorrect; most significantly, Elizabeth is recorded as Mary. Also, some of the ages are incorrect and Alice Sarah is missing. It records: Thomas, 28; Mary, 30; Thomas and Henry, 12,11; Emily, Arthur 9,6[30]. According to Elizabeth’s death entry (see below), they remained in Tasmania for 2 years and then went back to Victoria. So, that would have been sometime during 1855.
Robinson Crusoe Gully, Sandhurst
Extract from The Bendigo Advertiser Monday April 27. 1891 p.2 via Trove
The first discoveries of payable gold in Australia were at Ophir in New South Wales (1851) and then, shortly after, at Ballarat and Bendigo Creek in Victoria (1851). This was followed by Tasmania (from 1852), Queensland (from 1857) and the Northern Territory (from 1857). From 1851, gold-seekers from around the world travelled to Australia greatly expanding Australia’s population and boosting its economy. While the findings in Tasmania were significant, they were not as significant as those of Victoria. The Victorian gold rush accounted for more than a third of the world’s gold production in the 1850s[33].
The 1854 census recorded a population of nearly 15,500 people in Bendigo. The settlement had grown haphazardly with traders’ stores, hotels, boarding houses and dwellings ranging from calico to more permanent structures[34]. By the time Elizabeth and Thomas got there, the population would have been higher. Most at those working the diggings would have been living in tents. Life would not have been easy at the Robinson Crusoe Gully Diggings.
Elizabeth died on 11 July 1859 having been at Robinson Crusoe Gully for just 4 years. She was 46. Her cause of death is listed as Acute Peritonitis following 6 months of illness with Chronic Dysentery. Her death was certified by Doctor Donnall who had last seen Elizabeth the day before she died. Her death was registered in the District of Golden Square[35] in the Colony of Victoria (Registration No. 6701); the informant being her husband, Thomas Coop, Miner, Robinson Crusoe Gully, Sandhurst[36].
Elizabeth’s death entry also tells us that, at the time of her death in 1859, all of her and Thomas’ children who travelled with them to Australia, were still living. They are shown in her death entry as: Thomas 21, Henry 17, Emily 15, Arthur 10, Alice 6. The record also shows that Elizabeth had had 5 children that preceded her in death – 4 males and 1 female. As referred to earlier, two of these died in England prior to the family’s departure from London (Susan, who died in 1841 aged 21 months and George who died shortly after birth in 1849). So, who were the other 3 male children who preceded her in death? Were they born in Australia after the family’s arrival in 1853?
Sarah Alice died not long after her mother, on 20 February 1861 at the age of 8. She is buried at Carlton North in Melbourne City, Victoria, Australia[37]. This suggests that, perhaps, after Elizabeth’s death that Thomas and his dependent children moved away from Bendigo and back to the city at some point before 1861?
Next Steps
Thomas Coop Jnr |
Thomas Coop Snr |
Notes
[1] London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; London Church of England Parish Registers; Reference Number: P89/MRY1/208 Image via Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1936 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
[2] England Births and Baptisms 1538-1975 Transcript via FindMyPast [Website]. Accessed 9 July 2020.
[3] Jane Chapman Tamworth and Three Generations of Coops (posted 13 July 2020) BJNL’s Genealogy [Blog].
[4] Baptism Elizabeth Large Kent Baptisms, West Peckham, St Dunstan Transcript and Image via FindMyPast [Website]. Accessed 15 June 2020.
[5] I have traced the Large family back to William Large and his parents, Henry Large and Mary Wibley. William was born to Henry and Mary in about 1639 and baptised on 29 December 1639 at All Saints in Brenchley, Kent. Baptism - William Large Kent Baptisms, Brenchley All Saints, Kent Transcript and Image via FindMyPast [Website]. Accessed 15 June 2020.
[6] Thomas Coop - GRO Reference 1838 December Quarter in Marylebone,Vol 1, page 135. Mother's Name Large - General Register Office England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes [Digital Index] London, England via General Register Office [Website]. Accessed 28 April 2022. The Author holds a copy of the birth entry (Issued to Author 5 May 2004).
[7] London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: P89/MRY1/102 Image via Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1917 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Accessed 27 June 2020
[8] Class: HO107; Piece: 676; Book: 5; Civil Parish: St Marylebone; County: Middlesex; Enumeration District: 8a; Folio: 7; Page: 7; Line: 24; GSU roll: 438792 Image via Ancestry.com. 1841 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2010. Accessed 15 June 2020.
[9] Victorian Britain - British History via BBC [Website]. Accessed 28 April 2022.
[10] Coop, Thomas GRO Reference: 1838 December Quarter in Marylebone Volume 01 Page 135. Mother’s Maiden Name Large. General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes [Digital Index] London, England via General Register Office [Website]. Accessed 16 April 2022.[11] Coop, Susan GRO Reference 1841 March Quarter in Marylebone Volume 01 Page 159 Mother’s maiden name Large. General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes [Digital Index] London, England via General Register Office [Website]. Accessed 16 April 2022.
[12] Coop, Susan GRO Reference 1841 September Quarter in Marylebone Volume 01 Page 124 General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes [Digital Index] London, England via General Register Office [Website]. Accessed 16 April 2022.
[13] Coop, Henry Jackson GRO Reference: 1843 September Quarter in Marylebone Volume 01 Page 158 Mother’s maiden name Large General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes [Digital Index] London, England via General Register Office [Website]. Accessed 16 April 2022.
[14] Coop, Emily GRO Reference: 1845 March Quarter in Marylebone Volume 01 Page 167. Mother’s maiden name Large. General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes [Digital Index] London, England via General Register Office [Website]. Accessed 16 April 2022.
[15] Coop, George GRO Reference: 1849 March Quarter in Marylebone Volume 01 Page 257 Mother’s maiden name Large. General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes [Digital Index] London, England via General Register Office [Website]. Accessed 16 April 2022.
[16] Coop, George GRO Reference: 1849 March Quarter in Marylebone Volume 01 Page 204 Age 0. General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes [Digital Index] London, England via General Register Office [Website]. Accessed 16 April 2022
[17 Coop, Arthur GRO Reference: 1850 March Quarter in Marylebone Volume 01 Page 258 Mother’s maiden name Large. General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes [Digital Index] London, England via General Register Office [Website]. Accessed 16 April 2022.
[18] Coop, Alice Sarah GRO Reference: 1852 December Quarter in Marylebone Volume 01A Page 357. Mother’s maiden name Large. General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes [Digital Index] London, England via General Register Office [Website]. Accessed 16 April 2022.
[19] Victorian Britain - British History via BBC [Website]. Accessed 28 April 2022.
[20] In their Own Write: Three Million Words! via The National Archives [Website]. Accessed 28 April 2022.
[21] Information via Ancestry.com as detailed below (accessed 18 June 2020):
- Class: HO 27; Piece: 46; Page: 350 Image via Ancestry.com. England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009;
- Class: HO 11; Piece: 9 Image via Ancestry.com. Australian Convict Transportation Registers – Other Fleets & Ships, 1791-1868 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007;
- Class: HO 10; Piece: 38 Image via Ancestry.com. New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia Convict Musters, 1806-1849 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.
[22] Class: HO 10; Piece: 59 Image via Ancestry.com. New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia, Convict Pardons and Tickets of Leave, 1834-1859 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.
[23] Tasmanian Pioneer Index 1803-1899 Transcript via Ancestry.com. Australia, Marriage Index, 1788-1950 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
[25] Alphabetical Descriptive List Of Immigrants With Details Of Name, Marital State, Age, Children, Religion, Literacy, Native Place, Trade, Applicant (Sponsor), Ship, Date Of Arrival; Film: SLTX/AO/MB/240; Series: CB7/20 Image via Ancestry.com. Tasmania, Australia, Immigrant Lists, 1841-1884 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
[26] Archives Office of Tasmania; Tasmania, Australia; Descriptive List of Immigrants; Film Number: SLTX/AO/MB/140; Series Number: CB7/12/1/6-9 Image via Ancestry.com. Tasmania, Australia, Passenger Arrivals, 1829-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
[27] I have been unable to find a shipping record for Joshua. He married in Victoria in 1856 - Pioneer Index Victoria 1836-1888 Transcript via Ancestry.com. Australia, Marriage Index, 1788-1950 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
[28] 1885 Deaths in the District of Hobart (RGD35) - RGD 35/1/10 Image 333 Entry 2649 via Libraries Tasmania [Website] Accessed 30 April 2022 – Samuel Coop Butcher. Died from Brain Disease.
[29] Registration 13195 / 1892 Family History Search [Digital Index Search] via Births, Death and Marriages Victoria [Website] Accessed 30 April 2022.
[31] Bendigo or Sandhurst? History through newspapers via Blog State Library Victoria [Website]. Accessed 28 August 2022.
[32] The Bendigo Advertiser Monday April 27. 1891 p.2 via Trove [Website] Accessed 27 June 2020
[33] Gold Rushes via National Museum Australia [Website]. Accessed 25 June 2020
[34] Bendigo via Victorian Places [Website]. Accessed 27 June 2020
[35] Golden Square is a district of Bendigo.
[36] Elizabeth Large - Death registration number 6701/1859 Family History Search [Digital Index Search] via Births, Death and Marriages Victoria [Website]. Accessed 28 April 2022. The Author holds a copy of this death entry (accessed from the Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages in Melbourne on 28 April 2022).
[37] Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/198606735/alice-coop: accessed 29 April 2022), memorial page for Alice Coop (unknown–20 Feb 1861), Find a Grave Memorial ID 198606735, citing Melbourne General Cemetery, Carlton North, Melbourne City, Victoria, Australia ; Maintained by Tony M. (contributor 48299134) .
[38] Registration 1924/1915 Births, Deaths & Marriages Online [digital index], New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs [Website]. Accessed 22 April 2022.Ancestry.com; New Zealand Society of Genealogists Incorporated; Auckland, New Zealand; New Zealand Cemetery Records Image via Ancestry.com. New Zealand, Cemetery Records, 1800-2007 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Accessed 22 April 2022.
[39] The Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths, and Marriages; Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Victoria, Australia, Marriage Records Transcript via Ancestry.com. Victoria, Australia, Marriage Index, 1837-1950 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2018.
[40] The Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths, and Marriages; Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Victoria, Australia, Death Records Transcript via Ancestry.com. Victoria, Australia, Death Index, 1836-1988 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2018; Australia and New Zealand, Find a Grave Index, 1800s-Current Transcript via Ancestry.com. Australia and New Zealand, Find A Grave Index, 1800s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
[41] Registration Number 1873/4724 Births, Deaths and Marriages Online [Digital Index] via New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs [Website] Accessed 1 April 2022.
[42] Deceased Estates Placed Under the New Zealand Public Trust 1880 to 1928, 1931 to 1950 Image via Ancestry.com. New Zealand, Notices of Deceased Estates, 1880-1950 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.
[43] 1928 New Zealand Electoral Roll via Ancestry.com. New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
[44] New Zealand Society of Genealogists Incorporated; Auckland, New Zealand; New Zealand Cemetery Records via Image via Ancestry.com. New Zealand, Cemetery Records, 1800-2007 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014
[45] Public Record Office Victoria; North Melbourne, Victoria; Victorian Wills, Probate and Administration Records 1841-1925; Series: VPRS 7591 Transcript via Ancestry.com. Victoria, Australia, Wills and Probate Records, 1841-2009 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2016.
[46] Public Record Office of Victoria; North Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Series Number: VPRS 948 Transcript via Ancestry.com Web: Victoria, Australia, Outward Passenger Index, 1852-1915 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.
[47] Registration Number 1867/4296 Births, Deaths and Marriages Online [Digital Index] via New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs [Website] Accessed 24 April 2022.
[48] Registration Number 1869/24942 Births, Deaths and Marriages Online [Digital Index] via New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs [Website] Accessed 24 April 2022.
[49] Registration Number 1874/14335 Births, Deaths and Marriages Online [Digital Index] via New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs [Website] Accessed 24 April 2022.
[50] New Zealand Electoral Rolls, 1853–1981. Auckland, New Zealand via Microfiche, Manukau City Reference Library. Information accessed by Author in 2009:
- 1876/77 Waikaia Electoral Roll - Published 1877 - Coop, Thomas - Place of abode - Millers Flat. Nature of qualification - leasehold. Place where property is situate and name and description of same - house and farm, Millers Flat.
- 1878/79 Waikaia Electoral Roll – Published 1879 - Coop, Thomas - Place of abode - Millers Flat. Nature of qualification - leasehold. Place where property is situate and name and description of same - house and farm, Millers Flat
- 1879/80 Waikaia Electoral Roll – Published 1880 - Coop, Thomas - Place of abode - Millers Flat. Nature of qualification - leasehold. Place where property is situate and name and description of same - house and farm, Millers Flat.
- 1880/81 Dunstan Electoral Roll – Published 1881 - Coop, Thomas (senior) - residential Millers Flat - Farmer
[51] Public Record Office Victoria; North Melbourne, Victoria; Victorian Wills, Probate and Administration Records 1841-1925; Series: VPRS 7591 Image via Ancestry.com. Victoria, Australia, Wills and Probate Records, 1841-2009 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2016.
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