John Wansbrough (1832-1865)

#52ancestors

John Wansbrough is the first one of the 52 ancestors I’ve beeen writing about this year who was born in Australia. In fact, he is the only one of my 16 great, great grandparents who didn’t arrive in Australia from another country. And he is one of only two 32 great grandparents combined (mine and my husband’s) who were Australian-born. I’ll be writing about the other ancestor soon.

John was the first child of Daniel Wansbrough and Hannah Prangle, born in Perth in 1833, four years after the Swan River Colony was established by Captain James Stirling.

Baptism of John Wansbrough 1834 at Perth

In 1856, John was living in York and working as a carpenter and wheelwright. He married Frances Massingham that same year. Sadly, his wife died within 8 months, in childbirth so the family story goes. Five years later, in 1861, John married Ruth Taylor. At the end of that year, my great grandmother, Hannah Prangle Wansbrough, was born.

John Wansbrough advertisement 1856

After Hannah, the couple had three more children, all boys.

John died suddenly, in 1865, when he fell off his horse in a hurry scurry race at the York agricultural show.