UPDATE
I should have updated back in February but, been a little side-tracked. The headstone had been found and returned to the church, such fantastic news. The headstone will no longer be in the outside alcove of the church but will be inside from now on. We are so lucky to have it returned unharmed, such a fantastic piece of history not only for my family but for the Swan area of Perth as well. The All Saints Church in Henley Brook has had the wooden headstone of our ancestor Henry Bisdee and Emma Powell stolen from the church on Thursday 12th November 2020. As the thief had to cut through some heavy duty bolts the priest is in hope that someone has taken it home as a decoration and not to destroy it. The headstone is the only surviving wooden headstone at the oldest church in Western Australia when fire ripped through the church. Both Emma Powell (nee Bisdee) and Henry Bisdee died in 1884. Emma and Henry were my great grandfather George Johns Bisdee's siblings and their father Edgar Bisdee came to Australia as a convict in 1852 ( I have written about Edgar and James Bisdee plenty of times in my blog, just go to the side view on the right and click on the Bisdee name) with his father James Bisdee. They were convicted of stealing 13 fowls and 1 sheep. They earned their ticket of leave with in 3 years of arriving in Australia, Edgar married another local pioneers daughter, Louisa. Louisa was the daughter of Daniel Whittington who arrived in Australia on January 1830, as indentured servants and were prominent land owners in Beverley where Whittington family still farm. Please if anyone has any knowledge of this headstone please contact the All Saints Church or myself if you wish. This headstone is the only remaining wooden headstone left and is a huge part of Western Australian history as much as my own family history. There have been two stories about this published, we are hoping to get there word out there" https://www.6pr.com.au/podcast/stolen-gravestone-leaves-community-in-shock/ and at the Echo Newspaper echonewspaper.com.au/gravestone-theft-shocks-family-descendents/?fbclid=IwAR1k52qotFc-kT9bSHCl_PBZjdU8CdJDG7l4vh8SpYqDT78b9poXvBm7YCI
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AuthorMy name is Davina and I have been researching my family history since 2011. I started with almost nothing but ended up with a wealth of information and I needed an outlet to show and display all the information I have found. Archives
September 2023
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