Sarah Brookman's Parents

I have found differing information relating to the parents of Sarah Brookman (Roney) so I have put together this information for family members who currently have various names listed.

Option 1

I initially had information gathered from FamilySearch.org that Sarah was born in 1835, possibly in Diggora, Victoria, Australia and died 25 Oct 1908 Longwood, Victoria, Australia. Her parents were;

• George Brookman, born 1803, Longwood, Victoria, Australia
• Annie Caley, born about 1813, Longwood, Victoria, Australia

I have sent letters to what could be the correct addresses and I have since got an email address which works but I have not yet had return contact from Brett McDonald who submitted this information to find out what his sources were, however there were other Brookman’s in Australia, The following Australian Cemeteries listings would help support this parent grouping.

• BROOKMAN George 04-04-1871
• BROOKMAN Ann 08-11-1874 wife of above

Option 2

While I cannot remember where, I then came across information that Sarah was born in 1835 Middlesex, England and her parents were,

• Samuel Brookman
• Ann Caley

UK Census information for 1861 and 1871 show what appears to be the same couple each time, a Samuel and Ann Brookman with no children. By this time though Sarah had emigrated and married.

Samuel’s occupation is listed as a Mason’s labourer not a Brewer.

Also associated with this is a death registration for a Samuel Brookman aged 77 on the 9th Sep 1908 in Victoria, Australia. His Parents are listed as Samuel Brookman and Ann Brookman (formerly Bailey). He is listed as being in Victoria for 52 years, coming initially from Wiltshire, England.

Searching the Brookman surname on the Index to Assisted British Immigration 1839-1871 at the Public Record Office of Victoria returns 4 results. Confirming both Samuel and Sarah’s arrivals but not linking them in any way.

Arriving on the ship "Arthur The Great" in June 1856, located in book 12 on pages 178 and 188 are;

• Eliza Brookman aged 20 (page 188) Person:Eliza Brookman (2)
• Eliza Brookman aged 22 (page 178) Person:Eliza Long (24)
• Samuel Brookman aged 24 (page 178) Person:Samuel Brookman (6)

Arriving on the ship "Genghis Khan" in July 1853, located in book 9 on page 183 is;

• Sarah Brookman aged 18

Option 3

I then came across the following posting on Ancestry.com

Surnames: Brookman, Caley Kindly need your help in locating the following: a Sarah Brookman born in 1835 in Middlesex area. Married in 1856 and emigrated to Australia. Was the daughter of George and Ann Caley and also had a sister Mary Ann born in 1840. If you can kindly do a look up for me I would be most appreciative.

After contacting Margie (the person who posted it), I received the following information;

James George Brookman wife Annie Caley had the following children

• Sarah born in 1835 in Knightbridge, London, England and
• Mary Ann born in 1840 in Chiltern, Middlesex, England.

Sarah died in Longwood, Victoria, Australia 25, October 1908. Sarah married 8, June 1856 to Peter Romey at the C of E Parsanage Kyneton, Victoria, Australia. Peter Roney was born in 1828 in Dundalk, County Clare, Ireland and died 13, October 1912.

Following this up further I discovered that this information was compiled by Person:Frank Neeson (5) while looking at the Neeson family which is intertwined with the Roney family as 2 Neeson brothers came to Australia and married into the Roney family through the Frawley line. Unfortunately I was unable to confirm where he gathered his information about Sarah having a sister called Mary Ann.

After seeing the initial version of this page Kerin Wanstall has informed me that;

"My cousin Frank Neeson's information would have come from our cousin Cassie Berger's family history research as she passed all her info over to Frank to carry on the family tree, again a lot of it would have been from the Roney Bible."

Option 4

I then came across information that Sarah was born in 1835, Middlesex England, immigrated 1st July 1853, Port Phillip Victoria, married Peter Roney 8 Jun 1856 at St Mary`s Church of England, Kyneton Victoria and died 25 Oct 1908 in Victoria Australia. Her parents were;

• George Brookman
• Ann (Sarah) Caley

During correspondence about the connections in this tree, Kerin Wanstall (tree owner) informed me that;

“I have my dad's (Frank Frawley) family history book written up in the late 80's before he died. He has listed in the back grandchildren, gg grandchildren for Sarah & Peter Roney he copied this information from Peter & Sarah Roney's family bible which seemed to remain in the family with one of the older girls.”

There is a UK census entry in 1851 for a George and Sarah Brookman with their family. Their daughter Sarah is listed as 15 years old which is about the right age. George’s occupation is listed as a Bricklayers labourer, not a Brewer.

Option 5

I ordered a copy of Sarah and Peter’s marriage certificate and on that Sarah’s parents are listed as follows.

This clearly reads Brookman and Caley and with Samuel and George on my mind I could easily make her fathers name out to be Samuel. But I then ordered a copy of Sarah’s death certificate and that shows her parents as;

I would now say that Sarah’s parents are;

• James Brookman, whose occupation was a Brewer
• Her mothers maiden name was clearly Caley but her first name could be something other then Annie, such as Marie.

I then located a UK Census entry for 1841 (1841 census rounded adult ages to the nearest 5), listing James (25), and Ann (30) Brookman with their daughters; Sarah, 5 yrs, being about the right age Maria, 3 yrs Mary Ann, 1 yr, matching Frank Neeson’s research (Option 3)

James's occupation is listed as a Draysman. Amongst other things, Draysman generally carted barrells and kegs for brewerys which could have easily led into becoming a Brewers assistant.

Option 6

Returning to earlier searches I went back to FamilySearch.org and found information compiled by Lorraine Nicholls Sinclair (her sister married a descendant of Peter Roney and Sarah Brookman) that lists Sarah as being born in 1831 in Middlesex, England, immigrating to Australia on 1st July 1853 on board the ship: Gengis Kan" which departed: Liverpool England 25/3/1853. Married Peter Roney in 1856 at Kyneton Victoria and died on the 28th October 1908. Her parents are:

• James George Brookman
• Annie Caley

Lorraine's information included that Ann's father's occupation was a Brewer. Providing James another very plausible transition in occupation from Draysman to Brewer's Assistant.

Option 7

Having read the initial version of this page Kerin Wanstall has updated information and helped out with my search on Sarah's parents. She dug up an Email from Dianne Eden, another of Sarah's descendants. This email included information that

"Sarah Brookman was born in 1835 in either Knightsbridge London in 1835 or Chiltern, Buckingham, daughter of George Brookman and Ann Caley. She was baptised on 27th dec 1835 in St Mary's church Harmondsworth Middlesex England."

Following on from this information I located a copy of the baptism record. This shows Sarah’s parents as James and Ana Brookman from Knightsbridge and her fathers profession is a “Workman in a ??? house”. Looking at the writing with the bias that I have, I think it says Workman in a brew house. Under this there is a note that looks like it could be; “born Sept 28th”.

Image:Sarah Baptism Record.pdf

Option 8

Crazy I know, but I have not asked others or looked at information from the Roney Family Bible. Apparently Sarah or Peter's parents aren't recorded in it, but did Sarah write down her own birthday?

Conclusion

Currently I will say that the people closer in relationship then all of the family researchers wrote Sarah's parents names on wedding and death certificates.

• Father: Person:James Brookman (15)

• Mother: Person:Annie Caley (7)