[Index]
Asenath ELWORTHY (1829 - 1922)
Children Self + Spouses Parents Grandparents Greatgrandparents
William Alfred ROBERTS (1856 - 1943)
Asenath Ellen ROBERTS (1858 - 1944)
Edith Mary ROBERTS (1860 - 1937)
Walter George ROBERTS (1861 - 1923)
Annie Emma Eugenie ROBERTS (1864 - 1944)
Asenath ELWORTHY (1829 - 1922)

+

William Barker Claughton ROBERTS (1829 - 1865)
James ELWORTHY (1796 - 1832) James ELWORTHY (1770 - 1837) Thomas ELWORTHY (1720 - 1775)
Mary HODGE (1728 - )
Grace Thirza LEIGH (1771 - 1836) Edward LEIGH (1750 - 1804)
Elizabeth HOLDITCH (1756 - 1828)
Elizabeth MORSE ( - 1841)












Asenath ELWORTHY
b. bef 29 Apr 1829 at Exeter, Devon, England
m. 23 May 1855 William Barker Claughton ROBERTS (1829 - 1865) at New South Wales, Australia
d. 29 Apr 1922 at Waverley, New South Wales, Australia aged 93
Parents:
James ELWORTHY (1796 - 1832)
Elizabeth MORSE ( - 1841)
Siblings (5):
Charles Leonard ELWORTHY (1823 - 1834)
Alfred John ELWORTHY (1824 - )
Ellen Sarah ELWORTHY (1826 - 1921)
Sarah Elizabeth ELWORTHY (1828 - )
James ELWORTHY (1831 - )
Children (5):
William Alfred ROBERTS (1856 - 1943)
Asenath Ellen ROBERTS (1858 - 1944)
Edith Mary ROBERTS (1860 - 1937)
Walter George ROBERTS (1861 - 1923)
Annie Emma Eugenie ROBERTS (1864 - 1944)
Grandchildren (12):
Albina (Alma) Wilhelmina M WALTHER (1880 - 1944), Otto Victor Hubert WALTHER (1881 - 1940), Walter G S WALTHER (1882 - 1888), Ruby Coralie M WALTHER (1884 - 1965), Iona Camilla E L WALTHER (1887 - 1969), Roy O G WALTHER (1889 - 1891), Rita Olive Eunice WALTHER (1892 - 1980), Vyan ROBERTS (1891 - 1891), Gerald Claughton ROBERTS (1894 - 1974), Mary I O'CONNOR (1889 - ), Margaret A O'CONNOR (1895 - ), Kevin A W O'CONNOR (1900 - )
Events in Asenath ELWORTHY (1829 - 1922)'s life
Date Age Event Place Notes Src
bef 29 Apr 1829 Asenath ELWORTHY was born Exeter, Devon, England
29 Apr 1829 Baptism St Sidwell, Exeter, Devon, England 16
25 Feb 1832 2 Death of father James ELWORTHY (aged 35) St Sidwell, Exeter, Devon, England
bef 1841 12 Death of mother Elizabeth MORSE England 16
23 May 1855 26 Married William Barker Claughton ROBERTS (aged 26) New South Wales, Australia Cannot find marriage record
07 Jul 1856 27 Birth of son William Alfred ROBERTS Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 741/1856
1858 29 Birth of daughter Asenath Ellen ROBERTS Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 793/1858
19 Feb 1860 30 Birth of daughter Edith Mary ROBERTS Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 1860/BA00140
28 Nov 1861 32 Birth of son Walter George ROBERTS Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 1862/BA00890
31 Mar 1864 34 Birth of daughter Annie Emma Eugenie ROBERTS Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 1864/B002545
15 Jun 1865 36 Death of husband William Barker Claughton ROBERTS (aged 36) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 653/1865
29 Apr 1922 93 Asenath ELWORTHY died Waverley, New South Wales, Australia 7519/1922
Personal Notes:
Her first two years in Australia are uncertain but legend says Asenath looked after her Uncle George Elworthy's children after arrival. This is probably right as Ellen married within a few months and George was busy setting up a new business. There was also grief to cope with following the death of little Alice in January 1854 and Elizabeth in September the following year.
Quite probably it was through her uncle that Asenath met William Barker ROBERTS born in 1829 at Manchester, England who was manager of Christopher Newton's warehouse in Sydney.

On 23 May 1855, Asenath and William were married and went to live at 3 Waterloo Place, Strawberry Hills. Here their first child William Alfred was born on 07 July in the following year, although he was not baptised until 01 Oct 1856 at Scots Church.

Tragedy struck in the year following Annie's birth - but events are a little hazy. I don't know whether the family had returned to Sydney or whether William was on a business trip but he died 'off Bourke Street' in Sydney on 15 Jun 1865. He was either found dead or died in suspicious circumstances as an inquest was required the following day. It returned a verdict of death from 'hydrothorax'.

It is said her Uncle George Elworthy looked after Asenath Roberts and her children until his death in 1878. Certainly he left her all his household furniture and effects - as well as a pound per week whilst she remained a widow. Various wills show she was still receiving an annuity from the Elworthys in 1915 when James' widow Henrietta died. In this will she directed her sons Arthur, Ernest and Harold to maintain the annuity for Mrs Roberts to which Henrietta had contributed and doubtless they would have respected her wishes.

Asenath lived to a great age, dying at her residence, 26 Grafton Street, Woollahra on 29 April 1922 - 93 years to the day from her baptism! Her obituary in the Sydney Morning Herald said in part:

"The deceased lady was for 70 years a colonist of New South Wales. Born in Devonshire in 1829, she was a link between the present and a past so remote as to embrace such historic events as repeal of the Corn Laws, the bread riots in Exeter, the state funeral of the Duke of Wellington and the opening of the first railway system from Sydney to Parramatta all of which she clearly and vividly recollected.

"Her memory was a page from a history book and it was the perfect preservation of all her faculties no less than the warmth of her affection which endeared her to her many descendants."
Source References:
2. Type: Book, Abbr: Devon to Downunder, Title: Devon to Downunder, Auth: Bettie Elworthy, Publ: Bookbound, Date: 1997
- Reference = 40 (Name, Notes)
16. Type: E-mail Message, Abbr: Barbara Lawrence - Elworthy doc, Title: Barbara Lawrence - Elworthy doc, Auth: Barbara Lawrence, Date: 23/2/2009
- Reference = 2 (Baptism)
63. Type: Web Page, Abbr: Trove, Title: Trove National Library of Australia, Locn: http://trove.nla.gov.au/
- Reference = Sydney Morning Herald 28 Apr 1923 (Name, Notes)
- Notes: ROBERTS.-In everlasting memory of my beloved mother, Asenath Roberts, who passed to a higher life April 29, 1922. Ever in my thoughts. Edith.

ROBERTS.-In tender memory of darling mother, Asenath Roberts, who passed away April 29, 1922.
I am longing for the pressure Of a gentle hand-now still. Annie O'Connor.
65. Type: Newspaper, Abbr: Trove, Title: Digitized newspapers
- Reference = SMH 29 May 1855 (Marriage)
- Notes: On the 23rd instant, by the Rev. Alexander Salmon, William Barker Roberts, late of Manchester, to Asenath, youngest daughter of the late James Elworthy, of Exeter.

This public tree has about 60,100 people. Every person in the tree is related by birth or marriage to at least one other person in the tree - no strays. The people in the tree come mainly from four projects.
  1. My family tree. The original project begun about 1998. ID numbers less than about 6,000
  2. Canberra and Queanbeyan Pioneers. The next 30,000 begun about 2004. Sourced almost entirely from HAGSOC's excellent 'Biographical Register of Canberra and Queanbeyan'. The project began when I decided to add siblings, spouses and parents for a relation with an entry in the Register. 12 years work.
  3. Wagga Pioneers. I moved to Wagga and thought I would extend the Queanbeyan project by adding people from Wagga Wagga & District Family History Society's 'Pioneers of Wagga Wagga and District'. About 10,300 people added over about a year.
  4. Tumut Valley Pioneers. During the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, I decided to extend the above projects by adding pioneers of the Tumut Valley. Initial sources were Snowden's 'Pioneers of the Tumut Valley' and 'Relict of ... Lives of Pioneering Women of Tumut and District'. Excellent references published by Tumut Family History Group. I've also added material from newspapers of the time - especially, death records, obituaries and weddings from 'Tumut and Adelong Times'. This project is in its early stage and might take a few years. I plan to extend to the upper Monaro (Adaminaby, Kiandra, Cooma, Jindabyne).
I upload new information to this website about every 3 months. My motivation for these projects is to provide public information for people seeking to trace ancestors and what became of them. Much of the information I provide can be difficult to find.
If you find errors - anything incorrect (dates, places, wrong parents, wrong children), and you have evidence, I would love to fix them. Or, if you have information that would extend my projects, do not hestiate to contact me on the email link below. I do not publish information on living people - which means I'm not much interested in people born after about 1920, and I usually distrust material from before about 1770 without extremely good sources.
g.bell@bigpond.net.au
When you click the mail address abouve, if it does not open your email app, copy the address on the screen.
Geoff Bell, September 2020