miles of irvings

John Laurence Hendrickson. 

Vicki’s 3^rd great Grandfather. 

Born on Nevis, British West Indies about 1808 and died in Stawell, Victoria on 1^st April 1879.

Between us we have a good smattering of convicts, religious ministers, rogues, soldiers, saints, fossickers, horsemen and pioneers. We are continually in awe and amazed at the resilience and determination of our ancestors and love to collate the stories of their everyday lives. Predominately our ancestors have come from England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, France, Germany and Italy – probably the same as many Australians.

One of the triggers for wanting to understand more about DNA was this: 
Many years ago, when we first had our DNA tested, Vicki’s came back with 1%-3% from Ivory Coast. A year later we had it tested again with another company and once more Vicki’s DNA analysis showed a low single digit percentage from Ivory Coast. We had only a little understanding of DNA and heard from some sources that it was still “new science” and couldn’t be depended on. Over the years, both companies (Ancestry and Living DNA) would post updated analysis based on broader and more focused samplings across the globe. Ivory Coast was consistently in Vicki’s analysis.

Three years ago, we spent some time in Adelaide, partly because some of the wineries but also because South Australia did not have a lot of records relating to family history digitalised and available on-line. We spent some time with various genealogical groups and pored over all sorts of records in the South Australian State Library, primarily trying to unravel and understand more of Vicki’s 3rd Great Grandparents who had arrived by boat into Adelaide in 1839 with an infant son. Our main interest was their second child, a daughter, Elizabeth, who had married a Protestant Minister and moved to Victoria raising a family of 7 daughters and 4 sons. The eldest daughter, Marion, was Vicki’s paternal great grandmother.

Vicki’s 3rd great grandfather was John Laurence Hendrickson (JLH) and lot of information came to us during that visit: JLH married Elizabeth Armstrong, a butcher’s daughter in Newcastle-upon-Tyne England in 1837 where the marriage certificate notes his father as James Hendrickson, a planter. JLH established a business as a tailor in the main street of Adelaide. A newspaper article described him as a “man of colour”, and his death certificate stated that he was born in the British West Indies.

Further research shows that JLH was born about 1808 on Nevis, to a Sarah McFarlane, a free woman of colour. We have Nevis Court archival records that document Sarah McFarlane buying land for her natural son John Laurence Hendrickson; and her will in 1834 leaves the land to him and his sister, Sarah Johns Hendrickson, and Sarah’s son, James Hanley. Some time in his youth it appears that JLH was sent to England to learn the tailoring trade. We cannot find a birth certificate, nor any record of transport to England nor any residence in England, nor any record of training or apprenticeship in England. Neither JLH or Elizabeth ever left Australia after they arrived in 1838 and JLH died in 1879 from the complications of a broken leg in the Victorian town of Stawell, where he was listed as a tailor. He and Elizabeth (who died in 1875 back in Adelaide) had four children – John, Elizabeth, Jane and William. 
We can trace the whole Australian family going forward from their arrival in Australia and are in regular contact with another of JLH’s 3rd great granddaughters who lives on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland.

We have recently (maybe six or seven months) posted Vicki’s DNA sampling on some Caribbean Facebook sites – Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad & Tobago and Barbados which are all linked to GEDmatch. It appears that during the middle of the 1800’s, after emancipation, about 25% of all Nevisians migrated to other Caribbean islands, to the USA, Mexico, South America, Canada, UK and Australia. 

There are a lot of “possible” family connections as evidenced by the DNA matching that we have so far – more than 800 people from these Caribbean sites have some match with Vicki ranging from 3cM to around 150cM. So far, no luck at all in a firm genealogical match; however, a number of possible Scottish connections are emerging! The most recent group is “Enslaved and Enslavers” which interestingly has some of the highest cM sharing with Vicki.

Anyway, we know that there are all sorts of stories out there amongst everyone’s family history that are as unique, interesting and mystifying! We have slowly explored some great family stories focused on specific ancestors or events.

John Laurence Hendrickson may prove to be the most intriguing and difficult ancestor that we encounter!