My Paternal Great Grandmother's Family
Mary Jane Emerson was born in Petersham New South Wales in 1885 to parents Albert Ernest Emerson and Mary-Anne Malanda Haywood. Mary Jane was one of 10 children. Mary Jane was 20 years old when she married Edward Henry Shearer on the 03 May 1905, the following year her first child, a son was born. Mary Jane and Edward went on to have 9 children, one of whom is my grandfather, Aubrey. A tragedy befell the family in 1929 when a work place accident killed the third son David Henry Shearer when he was accidentally crushed by a rock that weighed a couple of tonnes at the Nepean Dam in Camden. David was just 20 years old. Mary Jane died on the 12th of November 1949, aged 64.
Albert Ernest Emerson was born in 1869 and the second child of parents Albert Russell Emerson and Ellen McDivitt.
Albert Russell Emerson had left his ancestral home of Kings Lynn, a popular seaport in the Norfolk area of the United Kingdom and on his arrival in Australia in 1860, he was 19 years of age and on the tail end of his employment as an apprentice with the merchant ship The Eagle, Albert's parents Richard and Mary, his brothers, John, and Richard had joined him in Sydney in 1863. Albert had found his vocation in oyster farming. The oyster farming developed into a family affair and at one point in their career, the Emerson family had hired up to thirty men to dive and collect the. Oysters. Albert had met his future wife, Ellen McDivitt, and they had their first son in 1867 followed by Albert Ernest, my 2nd great-grandfather and Albert's namesake in 1869. They had then wed in Sydney in the year of 1887. Evolving into a successful business, Albert's parents, Richard and Mary and his two brothers, had managed an oyster bar each in the hub of Sydney. One oyster bar was at 68 Market Street, one at 559 Stanley Street and another at 116 King Street. Albert and his wife Ellen had managed their oyster bars at 638 George Street and 128 King Street. Other incidents include breaching the oyster fisheries act and being arrested and charged for "putting some noxious material into George's River with intent to destroy the 'fish' therein" With the family's prosperous operations, the markets were at capacity and the Seabreeze hotel at Tom Ugly's Point was opened and ready for business by December 1878. Family lore has said that Albert had employed a Chinese cook to work at the Seabreeze and that he had added diversity to the seafood cooked there that most people may have never tried before. Albert had managed the Seabreeze hotel right up until just before his death in December 1885. Albert had died of bronchial asthma and was buried next to his late wife at the St Georges Anglican Church on the 2nd of January 1886. Leaving behind probate of £3960 for his remaining children and his publican license was eventually awarded to his brother John. With the death of Albert, it seemed that the oyster industry in the Georges river had followed. 1888 saw the importation of the New Zealand oysters and the introduction of pests and mud worms which had reduced the oyster sales in Sydney. It is not known what happened to Albert's properties, he was 45 years old with his youngest child only 5 years of age at the time of his death, leaving his five children orphans. John Emerson was last known to manage the Seabreeze in 1890 and there were several proprietors before licensing was transferred to Charles and Sarah Bennet from 1892.
Albert Ernest Emerson was born in 1869 and the second child of parents Albert Russell Emerson and Ellen McDivitt.
Albert Russell Emerson had left his ancestral home of Kings Lynn, a popular seaport in the Norfolk area of the United Kingdom and on his arrival in Australia in 1860, he was 19 years of age and on the tail end of his employment as an apprentice with the merchant ship The Eagle, Albert's parents Richard and Mary, his brothers, John, and Richard had joined him in Sydney in 1863. Albert had found his vocation in oyster farming. The oyster farming developed into a family affair and at one point in their career, the Emerson family had hired up to thirty men to dive and collect the. Oysters. Albert had met his future wife, Ellen McDivitt, and they had their first son in 1867 followed by Albert Ernest, my 2nd great-grandfather and Albert's namesake in 1869. They had then wed in Sydney in the year of 1887. Evolving into a successful business, Albert's parents, Richard and Mary and his two brothers, had managed an oyster bar each in the hub of Sydney. One oyster bar was at 68 Market Street, one at 559 Stanley Street and another at 116 King Street. Albert and his wife Ellen had managed their oyster bars at 638 George Street and 128 King Street. Other incidents include breaching the oyster fisheries act and being arrested and charged for "putting some noxious material into George's River with intent to destroy the 'fish' therein" With the family's prosperous operations, the markets were at capacity and the Seabreeze hotel at Tom Ugly's Point was opened and ready for business by December 1878. Family lore has said that Albert had employed a Chinese cook to work at the Seabreeze and that he had added diversity to the seafood cooked there that most people may have never tried before. Albert had managed the Seabreeze hotel right up until just before his death in December 1885. Albert had died of bronchial asthma and was buried next to his late wife at the St Georges Anglican Church on the 2nd of January 1886. Leaving behind probate of £3960 for his remaining children and his publican license was eventually awarded to his brother John. With the death of Albert, it seemed that the oyster industry in the Georges river had followed. 1888 saw the importation of the New Zealand oysters and the introduction of pests and mud worms which had reduced the oyster sales in Sydney. It is not known what happened to Albert's properties, he was 45 years old with his youngest child only 5 years of age at the time of his death, leaving his five children orphans. John Emerson was last known to manage the Seabreeze in 1890 and there were several proprietors before licensing was transferred to Charles and Sarah Bennet from 1892.