Susan (Halleybone) Saunders (abt. 1833 - 1911)

Born about 1833 in Portsea Island, Hampshire, England

Wife of William Saunders — married 5 Jul 1852 in Hobart Town, Van Diemen's Land, Australia

Died 29 Oct 1911 at about age 78 in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

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Biography

Susan (Halleybone) Saunders was born in Portsea Island, Hampshire, England.

Susan Halleybone was born about 1833, in Portsea Island, Hampshire, England. This much is known, because she was "chosen" to be one of the ten girls being shipped off to Van Diemen's Land as workers-with-a-view-to-marrying, in order to increase the local population, and workhouses did not take in those born elsewhere, as their local finances could not support it.

Susan (Halleybone) Saunders migrated from Portsea Island, Hampshire, England to Van Diemen’s Land, Australia.

It is not known if she was (or, indeed, any of the girls and women were) given any choice, but along with the other local Portsea Island girls, 16-year-old Susan was taken on the ship Beulah, which also carried some 151 Irish girls, mostly orphans, from County Clare's overcrowded workhouses. Of the 161 girls so shipped, one is said to have died on the voyage. After departing Plymouth, England on 20th May 1851, then sailing "across the world", the Beulah arrived in Hobart Town's harbour on the 3rd September 1851.^[1]

At the end of the voyage, Susan is listed as to be employed by Captain Read, in New Town, for £14, for a period of 3 somethings (presumably years). Nothing has (yet) been found about this employment.^[2]

Susan and William Saunders, a labourer (transported on the Maitland) applied for permission to marry, which was granted on the 29th June 1852.^[3] Her last name is rendered as Halleybane by the transcriber, because the o is badly written (it does not fully match up to a’s also on the page).

Susan Halleybone, now 18, married William Saunders on the 5 July 1852, in St John's, Hobart, Van Diemen's Land, according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the United Church of England and Ireland, by Banns. Officiant Thomas J (indecipherable name).^[4] Her last name is rendered as Halleybane.

Over the next twenty-eight years Susan (various spellings of her MSN) and William (listed as a Constable on at least one of the records for a birth) had at least thirteen children:

1. Name: Saunders, Given Name Not Recorded; Male; Date of birth: 09 Jul 1853; Registered: Hobart | Named as William on his death certificate in December 1853 age 6 months.
2. John Alfred (05 Nov 1854)
3. Elizabeth (17 Jan 1857)
4. James Henry (03 Nov 1858)
5. Joseph (08 Mar 1861)
6. Florence (10 Apr 1863)
7. David (10 May 1865)
8. William George (07 Jul 1867)
9. Rosetta (23 May 1869)
10. Georgina Wilson (01 Jul 1872)
11. Frances (10 Aug 1874)
12. Arthur (21 Dec 1877)
13. Beatrice (24 Apr 1880)

Susan Saunders née Halleybone passed away on the 29th October 1911, at her daughter's home: Moonah, Hobart, Tasmania, in the 78th year of her age.^[5] Her death was announced, also noting her funeral, in the Daily Post, Hobart, on the 30th.^[6]
After her funeral on the 31st, Susan was interred at the Cornelian Bay Cemetery.^[7]

Research Notes

Susan Saunders née Halleybone passed away sometime after her last child was born in 1880, but it is not (yet) determined when, or where, as the only Susan Saunders showing on search results for Tasmania, other than a five-year-old Laura Susan (who choked to death), died in 1911 aged 98 years, which would make her birth year 1813, a good 20 years too early.
It is always possible she (with or without the family) left Tasmania for the mainland.
The above information has been updated by a direct descendant, and the 1911 death - with the wrong age - is hers.

Sources

1. ↑ Immigration — Tasmanian Government Libraries Tasmania Online search: Name: Halleybone, Susan; Record Type: Arrivals; Arrival date: 3 Sep 1851; Departure port: Plymouth; Ship: Beulah; Remarks: age 16; Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:434106; Resource: CB7/13/1/1 P4 P15
2. ↑ Page 15 of the previous link.
3. ↑ Application for Permission to Marry — Tasmanian Government Libraries Tasmania Online search: Name: Halleybane, Susan; Record Type: Marriage Permissions; Ship/free: Free; Marriage to: Sanders, William; Ship/free: Maitland; Permission date: 29 Jun 1852; Index number: 62364; Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:1252563; Resource: CON52/1/3 Page 426 RGD37/11 : 1852/590]
4. ↑ Marriage — Tasmanian Government Libraries Tasmania Online search: Name: Halleybane, Susan; Record Type: Marriages; Gender: Female; Age: 18; Spouse: Saunders, William; Gender: Male; Age: 27; Date of marriage: 05 Jul 1852; Registered: Hobart; Registration year: 1852; Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:843754; Resource: RGD37/1/11 no 590
5. ↑ Death — Tasmanian Government Libraries Tasmania Online search (page 218): Name: Saunders, Susan; Record Type: Deaths; Age: 98; Description: Last known residence: Moonah; Property: Cornelian Bay Cemetery; Date of burial: 30 Oct 1911; File number: BU 14734; Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:1564826; Resource: AF35-1-2 (BU 14734); Cornelian Bay, PMET, Section B, Number 2
6. ↑ Death Announcement — "Family Notices" Daily Post (Hobart, Tas. : 1908 - 1918) 30 October 1911: 1. Web. 21 Aug 2021 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article193291934>.
7. ↑ Memorial: Find a Grave (has image)
   Find A Grave: Memorial #212787569 (accessed 26 November 2022)
   Memorial page for Susan Saunders (1813-29 Oct 1911), citing Cornelian Bay Cemetery And Crematorium, Hobart, Hobart City, Tasmania, Australia (plot: Pmet, B, Number 2); Maintained by Tanya V (contributor 49442830).

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