Person:Ellen Dixon (1)

From the conflicting information on various sources relating to Ellen's life, the following has been pieced together:

Ellen's parents, Joseph DIXON and Ann(e) MAHONEY, were married in Goulburn, New South Wales, in 1841. Ellen was probably the first-born child sometime in the the year or so after the marriage, probably born in or around Goulburn. So far, no birth certificate for her has been located in either NSW or Victoria. There is then a gap in records found of about 8 years until the birth of twins, Elizabeth and Hugh around 1849 in Glenorchy, north of Stawell, Victoria. There may well have been other siblings so far unaccounted for born in the intervening period, either in NSW or Victoria, although no others are listed on Ellen's youngest sibling's birth certificate. Therefore, Ellen appears to be the eldest of 8 children, born between 1841 and 1864.

Ellen was married to John POWER at McCroker's Hotel, Mount Ararat in 1857. Although the marriage certificate states that Ellen was 18, it is unlikely that she was more than 16 at the time. Indeed, her death certificate indicates that she would have been only 15. The marriage certificate also states that Ellen was born in Sydney and gives her parents' names correctly. If she was born in 1841 or 1842 then she would only have been 15 at the time of her marriage. If she was born after that, then she would have been even younger.

John and Ellen probably had 4 children between 1859 and 1869 - Mary, who died at about 17 months of age (not listed on Ellen's death certificate), Catherine, Julia and David. (However, Julia's birth certificate gives her mother's name as Ellen SULLIVAN.)

It appears that Ellen had another daughter, Jane GROVES, around 1874. It is possible that Jane's father was John but at this stage no record has been found for Jane's birth and the identity of her father is so far not known. The fact that there is no birth certificate may indicate that Jane was not born within the marriage. There is also the possibility that the father may have been the unnamed LEWIS, referred to below. However, at this stage it seems most likely that her father is another unknown individual.

In 1877, Ellen had a daughter, Emma, to someone called LEWIS. The father's name is not given, but Emma's name is registered as both Emma DIXON and Emma LEWIS. Ellen's surname is given as DIXON-LEWIS. There has been no record found for a marriage between Ellen DIXON or POWER (or variations) and anyone named LEWIS in Victoria around this time.

In 1879 there is a son named George born to Ellen, also registered with two surnames - LEWIS and DICKSON (sic).

In 1880 Ellen married George GROVES in Portland. The marriage certificate gives Ellen's surname as LEWIS, her age as 31 (although she was probably 38 or 39), and indicates that she was a widow and that her husband had died in 1877. It also gives George's age as 30 years when it appears he would have been have been 26. It is not yet known for certain whether the deceased husband to which this certificate refers is the unknown LEWIS or John POWER. However, there is a death certificate for a John POWER of the appropriate age in February 1878. As no record of a marriage to LEWIS has been found, it appears that it is probably the death of John POWER that is referred to. The marriage certificate also indicates that Ellen had only 1 child from a previous marriage. This may mean that the other children were in the care of someone else at this time. Or perhaps Ellen was embarrassed by her past. It may also be that this one child is Emma and that George was the son of George GROVES, rather than LEWIS, born out of wedlock. (His name, George, does lend some weight to this possibility.) POWER's children may have stayed with their father or his family.

Ellen and George had 3 children after their marriage - William, Elizabeth Ellen and Ellen. Ellen was about 45 years old when she had her youngest child, also called Ellen (although young Ellen's birth certificate states that her mother was 39 and born in Geelong). It appears that Ellen and George may also have raised Jessie May, born in 1892, daughter of Jane (father's name not given), as their own. On Jessie's death certificate, they are named as her parents. She appears to be listed as May on Ellen's death certificate, as one of Ellen's children.

Ellen's 3 earlier children, Jane, Emma and George, all appear, on later documents, to have adopted the surname GROVES. It therefore appears likely that they lived with their mother and stepfather after their marriage. So far, no information has been found about the children from the marriage to John POWER, except for Mary, who died at about 17 months of age, and David, who appears to have died in Ararat in 1950.

Ellen died in 1906 in Ararat and is buried in Ararat cemetery. Ellen's death certificate says she died in Hospital and has her maiden name spelled DICKSON. The usual place of residence is Woorndoo. Her father's first name is unknown and his occupation is carrier. Her mother's maiden name is given as MARNEY, but further particulars are not known. It states that Ellen was born in Geelong and had lived in Victoria all her life. It says she was married at age 15 to John POWER (dead) in Geelong, and at age 35 to George GROVES (living) in Woorndoo. Her children are listed as Catherine, Julia, David, George, Emma, Jane, Elizabeth, William, Ellen and May, with further particulars not known. George, who was about 12 years Ellen's junior, died sometime after this (date not yet determined exactly) and was also buried at Ararat.