I'm researching my great grandmother Catherine Ann Matilda Paisley, born 1845. Catherine married James Swann, a master mariner, in Hobart in 1866. A son Tasman was born in 1867. James seems to have disappeared soon after. Catherine had a relationship with James Malloy Peck, Tobacconist of Murray st. A son Joshua was born in 1876. They later married in 1883, a few years before James died. He also married Cecelia Judd during his time with Catherine. Does any one have any information on Catherine or James Swann, Country of Birth etc. Helen, nee Swan, Sulzberger.
Contact the Moderators of this site and we'll pass on Helen's contact details.
Today I decided to have a look for both James Swann and Catherine Paisley, and thanks to the NLA's historic newspapers site, on Trove, and the Archives Office of Tasmania site, I've located some fascinating material, in only two hours, relating to two of the men named James who were intimately related to Catherine, and by default, to her third James - James Peck. They were James Paisley, Catherine's father, and James Swann, her first husband.
James Paisley was an aged Lothario who faced bigamy charges in Hobart Town when over 70 years of age and married a 19 year old soon afterwards! And James Swann was a convict who was tried with his two brothers in Devon, all of whom were sent to Norfolk Island together, and later arrived in Tasmania together. Moreover James Swann didn't die at sea - he died in 1867 in Hobart Town, only a year after his marriage.
The reason I've taken the time to do this, besides my insatiable curiosity, is the fact that Helen's naming of James Peck as James Malloy Peck is a common misnomer, and implies he was the son of Joseph Molloy. As I note on other pages on our website, I am absolutely positive he was the first son of my ancestor, William James Cockerell and Mary Ann Peck, and so the older half-brother of my ancestor, W.J.'s oldest son John by his second Mary Ann, Mary Ann Briscoe.....
I've a lot of transcribing to do - an inquest for James Swann, convict records for James and his brothers George and Samuel, newspaper articles on all of them, and so forth - I'll go back to those and will post them as they are completed......
Finally I've posted the fascinating story of the life and bizarre death of Catherine Paisley's husband James Swann. Catherine became James Peck's second partner after James Swann's death in 1867, before James Peck married his long-time partner, Cecilia Hart. Yes, before he married Cecelia, not after! The mind boggles - did Cecilia know about Catherine? Did Cecelia know about Catherine and James Peck's son? What happened to Cecelia then? Where and when did Cecilia die and under what name? So many questions!
I've also posted some of the exploits of James Paisley, the first James in Catherine's life, on the same page - "James Peck and Catherine Paisley" ... outrageous stuff!
James Peck's story is a fascinating one - from the day his parents, William James Cockerell and Mary Ann Peck, moved on to new partners, his life and that of his family was one continual roller coaster ride of adultery, notoriety, and bigamy. Yet, by the time James died, he'd overcome all of these handicaps to become a respected citizen, an alderman, and a highly successful Hobart Town businessman.