Mid 2020 on a cool winters day I drove to the St. George’s Anglican Church in Magill, South Australia in search of the graves of my 3x great grandfather Nels Lawson, 3x great grandmother Maria Ford, and other family members.
St. George’s Anglican Church is a sweet little church on St Bernard’s Road in Magill. It was the first Anglican church consecrated in South Australia when it was still a colony in early February 1848, with it’s first burial just over a fornight later on the 16th February, 1848. They still hold services there today.
I walked around looking at all of the headstones trying to sense where my ancestors may be, hoping to just happen upon them. If I thought I was going to have some kind of knowing or sense guide me to them that idea was quickly squashed. After covering the entire property, including a lap around the church, it turned out they were in the very last section that I had left to looked at – right near where I had parked! Their headstones had been refurbished and they looked quite fresh and well kept. Obviously not the old headstones I was looking for.
My family members buried in these grounds include the following:
James Ford (1801-1880) – my 4x great grandfather was from Somerset, England. He came to South Australia on the Lady McDonald in 1855 from the United Kingdom with his family as paying immigrant passengers. He would have received a land grant for a plot of farm land at Stockport, South Australia to help him get settled in his new home.
Jane Ford (1802-1888) – my 4x great grandmother and wife of James. She maintained a family bible that I hope is still intact, and I dream to one day get a copy of it. After James died Jane went to live with her daughter Maria and son in law Nels, who, after having been an unsuccessful farmer, had by this time moved his family to Magill, South Australia.
Nelson Agustoff Lawson (1831-1882) – my 3x great grandfather, son in law of James and Jane Ford, husband of Maria. He was born in Sweden and came to South Australia in 1855 working on the ship the Lady McDonald. He befriended the Ford family on the ship and they invited him to stay in South Australia and live with them. He would not have been provided with a land grant but James Ford would have kept him busy working as a farm labourer. I have gathered quite a lot of information on Nels’ life in South Australia which I will put in a separate entry.
Maria Lawson (1828-1894) – my 3x great grandmother and wife of Nelson Lawson. Came to South Australia with her parents James and Jane Ford. She first met Nels on the Lady McDonald. She had four brothers, all who were not suited to the farming life and so gravitated towards Adelaide. After her husband Nels had died, Maria and her mother Jane moved with Maria’s 3 children into a small 4 roomed cottage on High Street, Kensington, South Australia.
Minnie Lawson (1866-1907) – my 2x great grandmother. Her birth name was Marie Franziska Wilhelmine Rauth (pronounced Rout). She was one of many who signed the Women’s Suffrage Petition in 1894 demanding women be given the right to vote. She was a gentle but highly educated woman who was not fit for an academic life. She expressed a desire for a farming life to which her father John Rauth (not buried here) provided her with the funds including a monthly stipend for life. John Rauth had been a highly qualified surgeon who at one time was attached to the personal staff of the Grand Duke of Austria and so was able to honour this arrangement.
Alfred James Lawson (1867-1923) – my 2x great grandfather was born at Stockport, South Australia. He was a keen fisherman and in-season he would go to the Henley Beach Hotel on Saturday nights with his friends arriving around 9pm to spend 2 hours at the bar until closing time, then spending the rest of the night into the morning fishing. Eventually the Licensee at the hotel suggested he buy a boat and nets to catch more fish so they could sell the surplus and make some money. At the time the hotel had many unused stables in the rear of the hotel, and so it was agreed that he would store his boat there.
Giuseppe Amodeo (1929-2018) – the only one buried here who I actually knew. Although I hadn’t seen him for many years my parents, sister, brother and I would visit him and his wife often when we were children, and I have fond memories of these visits. I knew him as Joe. He was the husband of my first cousin 2x removed and they lived on a large property with horses up around Happy Valley, South Australia.
I wasn’t sure what extra information I was going to get for my family tree from visiting St George’s Anglican Church. I didn’t get any extra information per se, but I did get an appreciation that they had all been people living their day to day lives just as we all are today. That the many years they had walked the earth were real years and not just numbers on a computer database. The idea that we’ve probably walked down the same streets is a perfectly wonderful reality. In the end, visiting their resting place was the first step in bringing them to life for me, and to confirm for myself that while I can I will follow and record the trail of their lives.
There are at least three more cemeteries I need to visit for other family members and will do so soon.
Potiuch Roman Cunnington Paynter Family Tree 