There’s a story I’m keen to tell that falls outside my perview as a fiction writer. It’s the story of my paternal family origins.
Years ago, I embarked on constructing a potted history of the Mayes family, whose origins had been traced back to 19th century Ireland by my father Stephen. Recent discoveries place 18th century Mayes ancestors in Suffolk, England and reveal anecdotal evidence of 16th century Huguenots in North Eastern France.
One of the most compelling stories arising out of this generation of the Mayes family line involves my great-great grandfather, Joseph Ladd Mayes. My father Stephen discovered that Joseph Ladd served as a Mounted Trooper in the Victoria Police Force here in Australia. Not only that, it emerged that Joseph Ladd was involved in the hunt for one of Australia’s most notorious criminal figures – Ned Kelly.
With the advances in family history research and the ability to reach a wider audience, I thought it would be useful to share the story of my family origins. In doing so, I’m hoping to make new connections and perhaps fill in the many gaps that still exist in the story.
This website is designed to serve as a living document – as further information comes to hand, I’ll update the entries here.
So where to begin?
The town of Headford, on the west coast of Ireland, is located approximately 20 miles north of Galway on the road to Ballinrobe (County Mayo). It lies 2 miles east of Lough Corrib. It is a popular fishing destination and the area is steeped in a rich archeological and monastic history. It is the site of the ruins of Ross Abbey a Franciscan friary, constructed in 1357 and the nearby Lough Corrib was considered a place of reverence by the early Christian monks.
Joseph Ladd Mayes was born in Headford, Ireland on the 20th January 1833, the second child of market gardener Joseph Ladd Mayes (Sr), a native of Suffolk, England and Rebecca Lydon, the daughter of a farming family from the nearby village of Tuam. Joseph Ladd arrived to the delight of his 8 year old siblings Sarah and her brother John.
Joseph Ladd Mayes (Sr) was a successful market gardener. My family has in it’s possession, a silver medal awarded to Joseph Sr. in 1834 at a Headford country show for growing strawberries. The elder Mayes had also been retained by a prominent Headford family as their head gardener. The Mayes family lived in relative comfort in the idyllic Irish village.
Sadly, the younger Joseph Ladd would barely know his father. Joseph Sr. died a mere three years after Joseph Ladd was born. His grave in Headford’s ancient cemetary is marked by a small monument that reads;
Beneath this stone lyeth the body of Joseph Mayes, who departed this life the 21st day of March 1836. He was a sincere Christian, a loving husband & a fond father. This stone was erected to his memory by his loving wife Rebecca Mayes
The death would have been devastating for the young family, robbing them of their security at time when dark clouds were emerging for the Irish nation.
The disease that struck the Irish potato crop in the winter of 1845-46 brought ruin to tens of thousands of tenant farmers and labourers, reducing almost all of Ireland to poverty. Between 1845 and 1848 the potato crop failed three times, causing what became known as the Great Famine. Making matters worse, very few farmers owned their own land or even held title to their dwellings, so when the crop failed they had scarcely any resources to call on. Countless country folk faced leaving Ireland or perishing. Many migrated to Britain and Australia, while more than a million men, women, and children emigrated to the United States and Canada, mostly through the port of New York.
While the circumstances around their immigration remain unclear, shipping records note an entry for a Rebecca Mayes, aged 45, having arrived in the port of New York on a ship called the Albion out of the Port Of Galway in June 1851. The Albion started life as a convict transport in 1813, ferrying prisoners to the new colony of Australia, before passing into private hands for use as a passenger and trading vessel. Additional records list a John Mayes entering New York on a ship called the Sirius that sailed from Cork at a similar time, however there are no records placing Joseph Ladd on either ship or, indeed, any ship. Further work needs to be done to establish their movements (as at Feb. 2020). In any case, Rebecca, John and the young Joseph Ladd boarded a ship bound for America. Sarah, then aged 26 and married to a John Dunbar – remained behind in Ireland.
It is in New York City that reliable records of the family can be found. Arriving in New York, Rebecca, John and Joseph Ladd Mayes settled in the village of Dobbs Ferry, north of Manhattan, on the Hudson River. A former staging point during the American Revolutionary War, Dobbs Ferry was a popular rural hamlet for new settlers. It has since become a highly desirable location to this day.
Emulating the Irish agrarian society of Headford, John Mayes saw opportunity in Dobbs Ferry and established himself in the horticultural trade of his father. He brought on young Joseph Ladd as his apprentice. Having endured the triple blow of losing her husband, the Famine and displacement from everything they knew, Rebecca Mayes carried scars that would remain until the end of her life. Cognisant of this, John was motivated to provide as comfortable an existence as he could for his mother and younger brother.
It was in Dobbs Ferry that Joseph Ladd met the third daughter of Protestant Reverend Doctor Louis Charles Piquet. Marrian Piquet and her extensive family were expatriates of Le Brassus in Switzerland who emigrated to America probably around the same time as the Mayes family. It is thought that the Piquet family initially lived in Boston, but more recent documentary evidence places them in Westchester County.
A certificate of marriage shows that Joseph Ladd – now a florist & gardener in his own right – wed Marrian Piquet in New York on December 3 1855. They settled in Dobbs Ferry and had every intention of putting down roots in Westchester County. Joseph Ladd & Martian welcomed their first child, a boy named Charles, in 1857, and Joseph Ladd obtained his certificate of naturalization that same year.
In the latter half of 1857, American markets were rocked by a sudden downturn that became known as the Panic. The failure of a number of high profile businesses caused a financial panic to metastasize. The railroad industry collapsed, hundreds of workers were laid off and the effect soon ripples throughout the broader marketplace.
Having endured the worst of the Irish Famine, the prospect of further hardship may have prompted Joseph Ladd & Mariann to reassess their life in America.
It was likely, at this time, news of an economic boom in the fledgling colony of Australia captured their attention.
The discovery of gold in 1851 at Bathurst in New South Wales and the newly formed colony of Victoria, transformed Australia economically, politically and demographically. The gold rushes occurred hard on the heels of the American-led global downturn. As a result, British and Irish nationals immigrated to NSW and Victoria during the 1850s, along with continental Europeans, North Americans and Chinese.
For a simple gardener with a young family trying to ekk out an existence in the shadow of the 1857 Panic, the calculus before Joseph Ladd Mayes was clear. Potential prosperity in Australia or destitution in America.
On February 22nd, 1858 Joseph Ladd, Marrian and their infant son Charles, boarded the steamer Mini Har Har. Saying goodbye to his widowed mother, knowing that he may not see her again, must have weighed heavily on them. Rebecca Mayes – not surprisingly – chose to remain in Dobbs Ferry with her older son John. Approaching her 60’s, the idea of another long sea voyage perhaps did not appeal to Rebecca. Perhaps she and John decided to ride out the financial shockwaves in the hopes of a recovery. For Marrian Mayes, leaving behind the security of her large Christian family would have been distressing, but perhaps she was excited for their prospects in the fledgling nation of Australia.
In the Spring of 1858, the young Mayes family stepped up the gangplank and sailed away from New York Harbor.
DFA.
The Victorian Trooper 