Talk:William Forlonge (1811-1890)

Info researched by a relative of William's second wife

 * (Extract from an email I received today from Margaret Holmes)

Good to know you are still on the job. I am still not clear your relationship to William Forlong/e. but to re-iterate, his second marriage was to my maternal grandmother's aunt Elizabeth Mary Nolan. I don't know if you are familiar with the 'trove' website which is the National Library of Australia's wonderful site, http://trove.nla.gov.au where newspapers from very early in the colony are gradually being transcribed. Every so often I hop on and find more that have been added to the site which are the more obscure newspapers that have a mine of information. In this way I found an obit for William published a few days after his death. I have been searching in vain for Probate details for William and was told at the State Archives that maybe he had not made a will.Given the convoluted nature of his dealings with banks and mortgages and property dealings that I have found in various years in trove, I now wonder if there was indeed anything left of his estate given the natural disasters in the colony affecting his sheep, the economy which would have affected the value of his properties, if indeed he had any left and the great depression of the 1890's immediately after his death. I suppose I was just curious about the fact that he had married Elizabeth, noted as a housekeeper (his?) on their marriage certificate so soon before his death. It must have caused consternation in his family at the time, was he doing it to protect her or his monetary interests. I can remember the legend of great aunt Elizabeth, who was living with my grandmother before she died in 1919 aged 75 of heart disease and senile decay. My mother had silver cutlery with a crest of a rising sun on a bar, that was supposed to be the Forlonge crest. There was also a tortoise-shell tall comb, a black lace mantilla that I still have, an ivory fan and a black cut velvet evening cloak,belonging to Elizabeth, all the remains of what had been a great fortune. I have just noticed that her death certificate has a note that she was an 'old ages pensioner', indicating perhaps that if she inherited anything from William it was long gone. I searched for William's resting place and found a reference in the Australian Cemetery Index 1808-2007. I am not sure whether some of the inscription was illegible but the inscription according to their records baldly states 'Forlonge William 15.9.1890 72y Husband' .The headstone is in row 12, Dubbo Church of England cemetery. I have not been able to find the reference again as I think ancestry had purchased a lot of records and there are 3 cemeteries in Dubbo so that will have to wait for another day.

Just recently I found your entry about William in familypedia.wikia.com and thought you might be interested in some details I have been able to confirm so that you could update the site: Sydney Gazette and NSW Advertiser (NSW :1803-1842) Thurs 15 June 1837 Page 3        http:trove.nla.gov.au By special licence on the 13th last (she was his first cousin!) at Roseneath Cottage Parramatta, by the Rev John McGarvie, A.M., William Forlong (without the 'e') Esq of Kennelworth (sp) Van Dieman's Land to Marion, third daughter of the late Andrew Templeton, Esq., banker, Glasgow. Rose Cottage still exists, beautifully restored, as a Solicitor's office in a row of cottages in Parramatta.
 * Marriage to Marion Templeton

We then have the death of Marion in Switzerland, a tiny piece of paper that I have mislaid: Death February 3 at Montreuse Switzerland, Marion wife of William Forlonge of Murrinbidgerie.
 * Sydney Morning Herald 4 April 1882

I found a reference to William living at Murrinbidgerie in the Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser (NSW 1848-1893) Thursday 23 July 1874 where he had met with 'a severe accident' with a buggy and horses bolting resulting in a broken leg. You know about his marriage to Elizabeth in May 1889 that was noted in her Irish, former convict father's memo book, by another hand I suspect as he had died in 1886. My cousin has the marriage certificate where both of their ages were under reported, noting also the name of the witnesses, which gives a link to my last item of interest. Alice and Jas Sparkes were the named witnesses.

In the Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal (NSW: 1851-1904) Wednesday 17 September 1890 The record noted that William had been suffering from bronchitis on the Saturday and had died on the Monday 15th September.There was a glowing reference to the many attributes of William and how he had overcome adversity to still be still 'full of energy'. 'Mr Forlong's will was made on Sunday night by Mr R Booth and he appointed as his executors Mr James Sparkes (witness at his marriage to Elizabeth), Rose Vale Terra Bella; Mr A H Fearon,Manager of the Bank of New South Wales, Dubbo; and Mr D W Waddell,formerly of Orange, but now Manager of the Haymarket branch of the A.J.S Bank. (so this worthy gentleman must have travelled to the area from Sydney to visit him in his last hours) If you can't access this record I will get some assistance in scanning the document as it is worth a read.
 * Death of William

That should keep you busy for awhile. I have found records of court cases in Melbourne in 1867 where he was sued for unpaid debts and his estate, (as it is referred to in the record) is interesting reading. What an interesting ancestor to own. His life is a story in itself and he does not seem to appear in stories of our early settlers. I did find one in a book about the women pioneers that featured a photo of paintings that were portraits of both William and his mother Eliza. The reference was for the museum at Euroa so I imagine the paintings must have been there. Hope you can make use of my bit of information. kind regards Margaret Holmes 18 Cremona Place Oakhurst 2761 Australia