My Henry John was married to Frances Louisa "Fanny" Dolling in 1862 at Coburg, Victoria. They had 13 children, Elizabeth Louisa, Selina, Thomas Henry, William Francis, Alfred John Victor, Frances Emily, Maude Matilda Adeline, Charles Richard, Florence Mary, Frederick Albert James, Albert Ernest and Elsie Victoria.
Ring any bells for you. I do have a WikiTree (Goodwin-8576) and an Ancestry Tree.
Hi everyone, just found this page, so hopefully will be able to find more information about the Prowse line and add to where possible.
To Start, my name is Terry Goodwin b1951, my late mother was born Joyce Elaine Noake (B1921) daughter of Elsie Laura Noake and William Roy Prowse (B1895 Brunswick Vic. D1966 Fitzroy Vic). William was the 3rd child of William Francis Prowse (B1867 D1944). William Francis was the 5th child of Henry John Prowse (B1831 Stokeinteignhead, Devonshire, England, United Kingdom, D1884 Rockhampton Queensland). He in turn was the 6th child of George Richard Thomas Prowse (B 1796 Stokeinteignhead, Devonshire, England, United Kingdom D 1874 Stokeinteignhead, Devonshire, England, United Kingdom).
Hopefully that's a start of my connection to the Prowse line. I'll try to add further as I go.
Welcome Terry! I have done research on the Stokeinteignhead Prowses, but no information on a 5th child of Henry John Prowse. No William. I've Selina, Thomas, Alfred, and Elsie. Do these names figure in your research? Do you have a tree on Ancestry? or Wikitree?
Also of some interest is the fact that the Liverpool, shipping magnates Prowse line appears to have originated in the Teignmouth / Stokeinteignmouth area. William Prowse was born 1785 in Teignmouth per the 1851 Census, however, by the time of his 1804 marriage to Jane Birchall, he was already living in the Liverpool area and by 1841 established as a merchant and ship builder.
Curious if any Australian Prowses on the other lines have also taken a Ydna test as Carl and Dan have? We only need one high tester on each line to help sort connexions. :)
Just added a fourth Australian line originating in Highweek, Devon with five brothers that went to Australia for a gold rush and for the most part settled in the state of Victoria. Two sisters also ended up in Australia as well.
Richard Prowse was the common ancestor, born 1796 in Highweek (outskirts of Newton Abbot) in South Devon, died 1874 in Newton Abbot. One thing about the WikiTree entry for Richard is that there is debate about the Thomas (George) names. Others feel that all the records indicate he was simply 'Richard', though he did have a son named Richard Thomas.
Thanks to Kat, Carl, and Daniel for the information on this line.
Some quick research on the web says the Australian Gold Rush started in earnest in 1851. Your line came to Australia in that decade and from what I can infer by information in the WikiTree profiles for the Highweek line, it appears they came around the same time. The two lines were from areas significantly far apart enough in distance and geneology that it is unlikely there was any planning between the two - likely coincidence. That said, the Cornwall line did land in Melbourne, then proceeded to Kiandra, NSW for gold mining, then on to Adelong, NSW for gold mining, whereas the Highweek line stayed in Victoria for the most part. Like the Highweek line, it was a family affair as borther James, John, and eventually Richard all emigrated to Australia for gold mining. They were shareholders in the Prowse and Woodward mine.
As of Oct 17/2023 we have at four separate Australian Prowse lines on the go - I bet there are more, so lets add to the list below. In summary:
The Eastley line - Richard Prowse Eastley and John Eastley, originating from South Devon, arrived in Van Diemen's Land in 1852 along with their mother, Elizabeth, and three half-sisters. Elizabeth was married to William Eastley prior to his conviction and subsequent exile to Van Diemen's Land in 1839. The boys were born in 1841 and 1846. Records and DNA tests confirm the boys are Prowse. See Blog article 'How Sheep Swindling led to Prowses in Tasmania'.
The line of the late Gordon Sanson originating from Penzance, Cornwall, with the arrival of Gordon's GGgrandfather James Prowse in adelong, NSW circa 1860. Gordon's mother was born Prowse. Gordon's uncle Richard John Prowse, Jr. may have continued the Prowse name. Gordon's Ggrandfather James 'Irwin' Prowse published a book of research on Australian Prowse, listing over 1800 people, in 1992. See Blog 'The Prowse Lineage of the Late Gordon Sanson'.
Julie Taylor's line originating from South Tawton, Devon with Julie's grandfather Henry Nicolas Prowse who arrived at Sydney, NSW in 1913.
Dan and Carl's line originating from Highweek, Devon (a mere 20 miles from South Tawton). Dan and Carl's most recent common ancestor is Richard Thomas (George) Prowse, b. 1796 in Highweek. Five of Richard's children went to Australia during a gold rush: William b. 1824; Richard Thomas, Jr. b. 1830; Henry John, b. 1831; Charles, b. 1837; and John Walter, b. 1843. Sisters Amelia, b. 1825 and Emily, b. 1840 also ended up in Australia. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Prowse-1143
I believe that Susan Prowse-Tako's January 2024 Prowse Highlights identifies another significant Prowse line in Australia, as follows:
14 January, 1824:Birth of Edward Prowse (1824-1862), 5th child and 4th son of James Prowse (1782-1846) & Mary Anne Philpott (1795-1843) He was an engineer/draughtsman/architect who worked for 3 years for Isambard Kingdom Brunel, “one of the most versatile and audacious engineers of the 19th century” before emigrating to Adelaide in Australia in 1849. Edward's older brother, Albert Philpott Prowse (1817-1895) also worked for Brunel.
Edward married Mary Ann South and had 5 more children after the death of their first-born son. Their descendants include several who have attended our Prowse Family Reunions in the UK, including Pam Matthews, gt-gt granddaughter, who died recently and who was the wife of Erwin Matthews, who contributed so much of the Australian Prowse history to us; and Noel Prowse, gt-gt-grandson of Edward and husband of Glenda. Other descendants include Virginia Banyard, a great-grand-daughter of James Barrington Prowse, Edward's first-born son, and her nephew, Simon Prowse, gt-gt-grandson of James Barrington Prowse. Simon is a Consultant Radiologist and director of Training and Head of Department at the Lyell McEwin Hospital in Adelaide. His wife, Phoebe Hold, is a Consultant Plastic Surgeon and director of training at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Adelaide, and they have two young children, Esme (2016) and Malcolm 'Mal' Barrington Prowse (2019). (see pp. 290-322 in my ''First Do No Harm' book).
Coincidentally (or maybe not so much) Virginia Banyard recently subscribed to House of Prowse. She and I have been chatting by email. One of the things I spoke about is that only some of the information on the Edward Prowse line is in WikiTree,
The late Gordon Sanson, grandson of Richard John Prowse, Sr. mentioned that his great-grandfather James 'Irwin' Prowse published a book entitled 'From Cornwall to the colonies: a Prowse chronicle, 1760-1990' under the name Irwin Prowse, in 1992 detailing over 1800 Prowse descendants in Australia at that time. It is in the National Library of Australia. Does anyone have a copy of the book?
William PROWSE was born in Okehampton, Devon in 1811 to a single mother - Elizabeth PROWSE. He was apprenticed to William ALWAY in 1820 at the age of nine by the Overseers of the Poor. I have not been able to find a baptism for Elizabeth PROWSE but she was born about 1789 (from Census details and her death certificate). Her mother was also unmarried and had moved to Okehampton from South Tawton around 1793 where she had been born in 1762 to William and Ann (Underhill) PROUSE. Ann had two more children in Okehampton - Ann in 1796 and Thomas in 1798 (again no fathers recorded). Dave Perry- Prouse is descended from this Thomas PROUSE and I am descended from his half-sister Elizabeth PROUSE. So Dave and I are fifth cousins. All three of these children were apprenticed by the Overseers of the Poor at some time. They were obviously very poor!
In South Tawton we can trace our family back for two hundred years to the early 1600's. South Tawton was a relatively poor village from all accounts. It was involved in the cloth trade - one author says most of the women in the village in the late 1700's were involved in spinning.
Apart from the wobble in the late 1700's/early 1800's with Ann and her daughter Elizabeth both being unmarried mothers the PROWSE families seem to have led fairly straightforward lives - marrying, having children, working.
Neither Dave nor I have been able to find a definite line prior to our South Tawton families. At a guess I think we are probably from the Gidleigh area as it is fairly close to South Tawton.
Our line of male PROWSES ended here in Sydney with HNP's grandchildren. Of the seven of us there was only one male and he had five daughters!
As far as I am aware we are not related to any other PROWSE families in Australia and there are no EASTLEY branches on our family tree.
My mother was a PROWSE born in Australia - the youngest of three children of Henry Nicholas PROWSE. HNP (a plumber) came to Australia in 1913 and married my grandmother (also from England) the following year in Sydney where they spent the remainder of their lives. HNP died in Sydney in August 1944. Prior to coming to Sydney he had made several trips from Plymouth to New York and Panama where he worked on the Panama Canal as a plumber (we have some interesting photos from his time there). He later went to Johannesburg where he met his future wife and followed her to Sydney! HNP was born in Plymouth in November 1880 to Rebecca Catherine (Bracken) and John Morgan PROWSE. He was their youngest surviving child - they had nine children but 5 died in infancy or early childhood - all from diseases that are now controlled by vaccination and/or antibiotics. John Morgan PROWSE was a Trinity Pilot (not confirmed in documents) in Plymouth. He had his own boat and seemed to have done quite well for himself. Unfortunately, he went overboard in a storm and while he didn't drown he did develop pneumonia and died as a result in January 1892 in Plymouth. John Morgan PROWSE was born in Bratton Clovelly, Devon in April 1836 - eldest child of Ann WORTH & William PROWSE. (More to follow!)
Hi Julie, there is a WikiTree profile for HNP and his father, grandfather, daughter, etc. all created by J. White. The date of death for HNP does match and there's plenty of missing information. Wondering if you might like to work on that? The link for HNP is https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Prowse-1310
Hi guys, I'm Mathew Prowse born 06/10/1989 in Wagga Wagga Australia, there is a fairly big but very spread out population of Prowse's here in Australia I'm nearly 100% sure that we would be nearly all related in some way we are all very proud people I'm extremely proud of our name and out history I'm going to encourage more of the family to jump on and share their story much love guys 💜 🇦🇺
Hi Kat,
My Henry John was married to Frances Louisa "Fanny" Dolling in 1862 at Coburg, Victoria. They had 13 children, Elizabeth Louisa, Selina, Thomas Henry, William Francis, Alfred John Victor, Frances Emily, Maude Matilda Adeline, Charles Richard, Florence Mary, Frederick Albert James, Albert Ernest and Elsie Victoria.
Ring any bells for you. I do have a WikiTree (Goodwin-8576) and an Ancestry Tree.
Hi everyone, just found this page, so hopefully will be able to find more information about the Prowse line and add to where possible.
To Start, my name is Terry Goodwin b1951, my late mother was born Joyce Elaine Noake (B1921) daughter of Elsie Laura Noake and William Roy Prowse (B1895 Brunswick Vic. D1966 Fitzroy Vic). William was the 3rd child of William Francis Prowse (B1867 D1944). William Francis was the 5th child of Henry John Prowse (B1831 Stokeinteignhead, Devonshire, England, United Kingdom, D1884 Rockhampton Queensland). He in turn was the 6th child of George Richard Thomas Prowse (B 1796 Stokeinteignhead, Devonshire, England, United Kingdom D 1874 Stokeinteignhead, Devonshire, England, United Kingdom).
Hopefully that's a start of my connection to the Prowse line. I'll try to add further as I go.
Curious if any Australian Prowses on the other lines have also taken a Ydna test as Carl and Dan have? We only need one high tester on each line to help sort connexions. :)
Just added a fourth Australian line originating in Highweek, Devon with five brothers that went to Australia for a gold rush and for the most part settled in the state of Victoria. Two sisters also ended up in Australia as well.
Richard Prowse was the common ancestor, born 1796 in Highweek (outskirts of Newton Abbot) in South Devon, died 1874 in Newton Abbot. One thing about the WikiTree entry for Richard is that there is debate about the Thomas (George) names. Others feel that all the records indicate he was simply 'Richard', though he did have a son named Richard Thomas.
Thanks to Kat, Carl, and Daniel for the information on this line.
As of Oct 17/2023 we have at four separate Australian Prowse lines on the go - I bet there are more, so lets add to the list below. In summary:
The Eastley line - Richard Prowse Eastley and John Eastley, originating from South Devon, arrived in Van Diemen's Land in 1852 along with their mother, Elizabeth, and three half-sisters. Elizabeth was married to William Eastley prior to his conviction and subsequent exile to Van Diemen's Land in 1839. The boys were born in 1841 and 1846. Records and DNA tests confirm the boys are Prowse. See Blog article 'How Sheep Swindling led to Prowses in Tasmania'.
The line of the late Gordon Sanson originating from Penzance, Cornwall, with the arrival of Gordon's GGgrandfather James Prowse in adelong, NSW circa 1860. Gordon's mother was born Prowse. Gordon's uncle Richard John Prowse, Jr. may have continued the Prowse name. Gordon's Ggrandfather James 'Irwin' Prowse published a book of research on Australian Prowse, listing over 1800 people, in 1992. See Blog 'The Prowse Lineage of the Late Gordon Sanson'.
Julie Taylor's line originating from South Tawton, Devon with Julie's grandfather Henry Nicolas Prowse who arrived at Sydney, NSW in 1913.
Dan and Carl's line originating from Highweek, Devon (a mere 20 miles from South Tawton). Dan and Carl's most recent common ancestor is Richard Thomas (George) Prowse, b. 1796 in Highweek. Five of Richard's children went to Australia during a gold rush: William b. 1824; Richard Thomas, Jr. b. 1830; Henry John, b. 1831; Charles, b. 1837; and John Walter, b. 1843. Sisters Amelia, b. 1825 and Emily, b. 1840 also ended up in Australia. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Prowse-1143
The late Gordon Sanson, grandson of Richard John Prowse, Sr. mentioned that his great-grandfather James 'Irwin' Prowse published a book entitled 'From Cornwall to the colonies: a Prowse chronicle, 1760-1990' under the name Irwin Prowse, in 1992 detailing over 1800 Prowse descendants in Australia at that time. It is in the National Library of Australia. Does anyone have a copy of the book?
Thanks Julie and Mathew for getting the ball rolling 'Down Under'. 😀
HENRY NICHOLAS PROWSE - PART TWO
William PROWSE was born in Okehampton, Devon in 1811 to a single mother - Elizabeth PROWSE. He was apprenticed to William ALWAY in 1820 at the age of nine by the Overseers of the Poor. I have not been able to find a baptism for Elizabeth PROWSE but she was born about 1789 (from Census details and her death certificate). Her mother was also unmarried and had moved to Okehampton from South Tawton around 1793 where she had been born in 1762 to William and Ann (Underhill) PROUSE. Ann had two more children in Okehampton - Ann in 1796 and Thomas in 1798 (again no fathers recorded). Dave Perry- Prouse is descended from this Thomas PROUSE and I am descended from his half-sister Elizabeth PROUSE. So Dave and I are fifth cousins. All three of these children were apprenticed by the Overseers of the Poor at some time. They were obviously very poor!
In South Tawton we can trace our family back for two hundred years to the early 1600's. South Tawton was a relatively poor village from all accounts. It was involved in the cloth trade - one author says most of the women in the village in the late 1700's were involved in spinning.
Apart from the wobble in the late 1700's/early 1800's with Ann and her daughter Elizabeth both being unmarried mothers the PROWSE families seem to have led fairly straightforward lives - marrying, having children, working.
Neither Dave nor I have been able to find a definite line prior to our South Tawton families. At a guess I think we are probably from the Gidleigh area as it is fairly close to South Tawton.
Our line of male PROWSES ended here in Sydney with HNP's grandchildren. Of the seven of us there was only one male and he had five daughters!
As far as I am aware we are not related to any other PROWSE families in Australia and there are no EASTLEY branches on our family tree.
All the bests,
Julie Taylor
Hullo from Down Under!
My mother was a PROWSE born in Australia - the youngest of three children of Henry Nicholas PROWSE. HNP (a plumber) came to Australia in 1913 and married my grandmother (also from England) the following year in Sydney where they spent the remainder of their lives. HNP died in Sydney in August 1944. Prior to coming to Sydney he had made several trips from Plymouth to New York and Panama where he worked on the Panama Canal as a plumber (we have some interesting photos from his time there). He later went to Johannesburg where he met his future wife and followed her to Sydney! HNP was born in Plymouth in November 1880 to Rebecca Catherine (Bracken) and John Morgan PROWSE. He was their youngest surviving child - they had nine children but 5 died in infancy or early childhood - all from diseases that are now controlled by vaccination and/or antibiotics. John Morgan PROWSE was a Trinity Pilot (not confirmed in documents) in Plymouth. He had his own boat and seemed to have done quite well for himself. Unfortunately, he went overboard in a storm and while he didn't drown he did develop pneumonia and died as a result in January 1892 in Plymouth. John Morgan PROWSE was born in Bratton Clovelly, Devon in April 1836 - eldest child of Ann WORTH & William PROWSE. (More to follow!)
Hi guys, I'm Mathew Prowse born 06/10/1989 in Wagga Wagga Australia, there is a fairly big but very spread out population of Prowse's here in Australia I'm nearly 100% sure that we would be nearly all related in some way we are all very proud people I'm extremely proud of our name and out history I'm going to encourage more of the family to jump on and share their story much love guys 💜 🇦🇺