Susan (Gribble) Trembath (1856 - 1900)

Born 19 Oct 1856 in Blackwood, Victoria, Australia

Ancestors

Wife of Alfred Henry Trembath — married 21 Oct 1875 in Thames, Waikato, New Zealand

Descendants

Died 28 Mar 1900 at age 43 in New Zealand

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Ian Gribble [send private message]

Biography

Susannah Gribble'

Susannah [Susan] is of considerable interest because of the puzzle that surrounds the birth of a possibly illegitimate daughter to her, named Elizabeth Susan, at Blackwood in 1872. ^[1]

The father was recorded in the register as unknown and much later Elizabeth was not included in the list of her children with Albert Trembath on her death certificate. In 1875, after her daughter's birth, Susan went to New Zealand, probably to be with her brother William Cundy Gribble. She then married Alfred Trembath on 21 October 1876 in the gold mining town of Thames.

The marriage took place at her brother’s residence, that of William Cundy Gribble, Mounatiere, Thames. Alfred Trembath, not surprisingly, was a miner: she had no occupation. Officiating Minister was John Crump. Witnesses were James Gribble ,Thames [uncle] , Mine Manager and Caroline Vial Tarara Rd. [cousin].

The Trembaths apparently later returned to Australia. Narelle Trembath who married a descendent of Alfred and Susan contributed some of this information.

Elizabeth Tirrell

Vivian Gribble, in a letter to his sister Haidee ^[2], states that a daughter of Henry and Julia married James Tirrell.

Birth records reveal that an Elizabeth Rogers married James Tirrell at Simmon's Reef in 1895 and that she was in fact a daughter of Mathew and Mary Rogers. The Rogers were the wealthy owners of ‘The Big Hill Mine’ just up from ‘The Crown’, whose large headstone and family vault today still dominates the Blackwood cemetery.

Their land occupied the area now well known by today’s gardeners as the ‘St. Erth Garden’

Adoption: The Evidence

Vivian’s claim that Elizabeth Roger’s is a daughter of Henry’s is wrong as dates do not match and other marriages account for each of Henry’s daughters.

Did Vivian know the facts or was misled by concealed truths or just confused a daughter of the same name with a grand daughter born out of wedlock? The birth records ^[3]; ^[4]; ^[5]; also show no child was born to Mathew and Mary Rogers. For those who ask the question, Elizabeth Rogers could not have been born in England.

The calculated date of birth for Elizabeth Rogers matches exactly the birth date of Elizabeth Gribble, the daughter of Susan Gribble. Whilst it will be almost impossible to prove conclusively, the most likely explanation is that Elizabeth Susan was adopted by the Rogers.

Further Information

George Trewhella, a long time resident of Blackwood is quoted as follows:

The Rogers had no children, and so adopted a girl born 1872, said by a once resident to be the daughter of a miner who was killed in a mining accident [Henry Gribble or the prospective husband of Susan?].

Lizzie, as she was called, attended the Simmon's Reef school. ^[6]

The community at Simmon’s Reef was by now both stable and small, and by 1875 the Rogers and Gribbles amongst the residents had known each other for nearly 20 years and were closely bound together by common interests in mining, their religious beliefs and the proximity of their houses. ^[7]

Adoption was quite common - of a daughter by a childless aunt, a son into an apprenticeship or an illegitimate child by relatives or another couple, all without a legal basis. So there are no court proceedings or adoption papers to find.

Susannah was able to start a new life for herself in New Zealand and a childless couple, Mathew and Mary, clearly friends of Julia and Henry [Samuel by this time] were able to raise a child. ^[8]

It is also worth noting that Mathew and Samuel Rogers were both born in Cornwall but to date there is no evidence they are closely related. Mary Rogers was also a Rogers before marriage. Samuel Rogers married Julia Cundy, Henry Gribble's widow and so became a stepfather to Susan Gribble.

A plaque in the St. Erth cemetery in Cornwall reads:

Abraham Rogers d. 14 June, 1876 [89] also Elizabeth d. 24 June 1844 [60]. Erected in remembrance by their daughter and son in law M. and M. Rogers of Simmon's Reef, Blackwood, Australia So perhaps Samuel [Julia Gribble’s second husband] was related to Mary. If a relationship were to be found it would lend further support to a theory of adoption.

Henry died intestate, thus requiring his friend Mathew Rogers and brother Charles Gribble to act for Julia as sureties whilst she administrated his state.^[9]

The Terrills

James and Elizabeth Terrill had a daughter and son: Ivy May and Ernest Matthew James

--- The Roger’s daughter Lizzie and her husband Jim moved into the stone house to look after old Matthew Rogers [after Mary died in 1896] and they carried on the business for some years after Rogers died on January 6, 1902. He was subsequently interred in the vault. ---- Lizzie later lived in a house in Kooyong Road, Caulfield in Melbourne, called St. Erth, a photo of which shows it to be a grand house with a tower. ^[10]

It was recently demolished to make way for apartments. Lizzie, or Elizabeth as she was more correctly known, died in Melbourne on November 15, 1937 aged 65 years and her body was brought back to Blackwood to be placed in its resting place in the big vault.^[11]

[his date coincides with a birth date of 1872 which matches the birth date of Elizabeth, Susan’s daughter] Her daughter, Ivy Parkinson, was the last one to be interred in the vault in 1962.” ^[12]

Sources

1. ↑ Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages,
2. ↑ Gribble Vivian, letter. 1970
3. ↑ Church of the Latter Day Saints, Salt Lake City
4. ↑ British Government. Births Deaths and Marriages:
5. ↑ Births, Deaths and Marriages,
6. ↑ Buckingham A.J. and Hitchcock M.F. “Aspects of Early Blackwood”
7. ↑ Gribble Ian: "Flash in the Pan
8. ↑ Gribble Ian: "Flash in the Pan
9. ↑ Victorian Probate Records,
10. ↑ Buckingham A.J. and Hitchcock M.F. “Aspects of Early Blackwood”
11. ↑ Cemetery Trustees. Blackwood Cemetery
12. ↑ Cemetery Trustees. Blackwood Cemetery

1. Gribble Ian: "Flash in the Pan" A History of the Camborne Gribbles; Self Published; 1 Jan 2008; ISBN: 978- 0 - 9803307 -1-73

2. Buckingham A.J. and Hitchcock M.F. “Aspects of Early Blackwood” . Bairnsdale, Victoria: James Yeates, Reprinted 1981.

3. Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages, Microfiche, As per individual. Treasury Place, Melbourne, VIC 3001: Government Printer.

4. Victorian Probate Records, Cnr. Spring and Lonsdale Streets, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Victorian Public Record Office,

5. Cemetery Trustees. Blackwood Cemetery: Headstone Inscriptions. Blackwood, Victoria, Australia.: Cemetery Trustees, 1855-2001.

6 Church of the Latter Day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. 1851 Microfilm. As per Individuals in this Family History: CLDS Index. Church: Latter Day Saints.

7. British Government. Births Deaths and Marriages: St Catherine's Index: . London: Registrar of Births Deaths and marriage, 1835 -2000

8. Gribble Vivian, letter. 1970, from Ballarat, to Haidee Godenzie.