Ruby May (Ansell) Osborne (1891 - abt. 1955)

Born 1891 in Collingwood, Victoria, Australia

Wife of Valentine Lawrence Osborne — married 1914 in Victoria, Australia

Died about 23 Nov 1955 at about age 64 in Sandford, Victoria, Australia

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Marjorie Whitworth [send private message]

Biography

Ruby May Ansell, a daughter of Edward Jas Ansell and Jessie Cropper was born in 1891 in Collingwood, Victoria, Australia, now a suburb of Melbourne. Her birth was registered in that year.

In 1914, she was on the Electoral Rolls (ER) at 41 Westgarth Street, Northcote, as a Machinist, with her father Edward James Ansell, a French Polisher and mother Jessie Ansell doing Home Duties, and using her maiden name.

She married Lawrence Valentine Osborne aka Valentine Lawrence Osborne in 1914 in the State of Victoria.

In 1915, she was on the 1915 ER, with the same details as in 1914 but in the 1919 ER was at 34 Bridge Street, Northcote doing Home Duties under her married name, with husband Valentine Lawrence Osborne, a Clerk. They were at the same address in Northcote up to and including the 1927 ER but had moved to 12 McLauchlin Avenue, Sandringham on the 1928 ER. This continued to the 1942 ER, when they were joined at Number 12 by Jean Matilda Osborne whose occupation was in Sales. It seems Jean had left home by the time of the next, and last ER that Ruby and Valentine were on together in 1954 in the same occupations. [Jean married Walter Richard Anspach in 1944 ^[1]]

Her Australia, Death Index record gives the year of registration as 1955 in Sandford, Victoria and confirms her parents' names as Edward Ansell and Jessie Cropper. However, her specific death date is given as 23 November 1955 in her Find A Grave record that has her in Cheltenham Memorial Cemetery at Cheltenham, Bayside City, Victoria, Australia ^[2]. A note in the website has "Death date listed may be the interment date, Resided: Sandringham, Occupation: Home Duties". This is the same location given by researcher Joyce Proudlock in Annie Penrose's profile.

The Story of a Family Bible

Where five generations of a family originating in the United Kingdom involved with the same Bible?

In about 1989, a very large, paper size 24cm x 32cm, heavy, leather bound, Family Bible, with brass clasps, front cover edgings and back cover corners, one of those printed for the Scottish Presbyterian Reverend James Eadie (1801-1876) of 1215 pages, was found and purchased for Au$100 from a market stall in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It also contains Eadie’s Biblical Cyclopaedia that was first published in 1848; Commentaries on all Books of the Bible selected from those by Matthew Henry (1622-1714) written between 1704 and 1714, and Thomas Scott (1747-1821) written between 1810 and 1821, and 21 coloured engraved illustrations, bringing the number of pages to more than 1300. It had been owned by Annie Penrose Waters and husband Alfred James Waters who were married on December 3, 1904 and had a son Valentine James Waters (b. 27 Feb 1906, d. 13 Sep 1927), while on the Grandparents and Parents page were the names: Robert & Mary-Anne Whitrick for the former and Thomas (d. May 11, 1927) & Matilda Osborne (d. June 6, 1912) for the latter, both relatives of Annie. When about 30 years after its acquisition the time came for the the unrelated purchaser to dispose of the Bible, the lack of a title page decreased its value so much that it was decided to see if a descendent could be found who might be interested in it.

The realisation that the Grandparents most probably came from the UK led to a request to a brother-in-law, living there and with experience in ancestry for help, who found that a person, who turned out to be a living relative of the Whitricks had sometime previously made an enquiry through Ancestry for information about them! What confirmed that this person was the right person to inherit the Eadie Bible would later be revealed when it was learnt that her 2nd husband had the same forename and surname as the 2nd husband of the purchaser from the market stall!

So, how did Annie Penrose and Alfred James Waters come to be the owners of the Bible, and how did it get to a market stall in Melbourne?

Annie Penrose’ Grandparents, Robert Whitrick and Mary Anne Sage were devout Methodists while living in Ballarat, a religious background that was probably passed down to her through her mother Matilda Whitrick as she was religious. However, the Eadie Bible was strictly Presbyterian so that seems less likely.

In Annie’s profile we find the statement that “She left her estate to the Ballarat Town and City Mission, Lost Dogs Home, and some friends including Mrs Ruby Osborne who lived with Mrs Aspatch at McLauchlin Ave Sandringham. [P 468 /683]". She and her husband, Valentine Lawrence Osborne were at 12 McLauchlin Ave on the ER in 1954 when Ruby passed away. Valentine remained there until he passed away in 1974. Was the Bible left with Valentine ? It wasn’t found at the market stall until about 1989.

Sources

1. ↑ https://search.ancestry.com.au/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=61649&h=413098&indiv=try&o_vc=Record:OtherRecord&rhSource=61315&_gl=1*1wswltq*_ga*MTU1Mzk5MzA3NC4xNjMwOTgwNzc1*_ga_4QT8FMEX30*MTY1NjU1NTQ3OC4zMi4xLjE2NTY1NTY1MjYuMTk.
2. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/215697884/ruby-may-osborne

• Birth: Ancestry.com. Australia, Birth Index, 1788-1922 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Federation Index. Victoria 1889-1901. Reg.no. 2370.
• Marriage: Ancestry.com. Australia, Marriage Index, 1788-1950 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Great War Index Victoria 1914-1920. Reg.no. 6371.
• Residence: Ancestry; Australia, Electoral Rolls, 1903-1980. 1914, 1915, 1919, 1922, 1924, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1931, 1936, 1937, 1942, 1954.
• Death: Ancestry.com. Australia, Death Index, 1787-1985 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Death Index Victoria 1921-1985. Reg.no. 14493.