Peach-Family History

This is the Peach Family (Brisbane Australia) genealogy born from the roots of Grandfather Arthur Ernest Peach and his beloved wife Mary Anne Ford (13+ children)

Together they boarded a ship in 1911 headed for Brisbane Australia and in 1911/12 with three children Arthur 3-4 yrs, Emily (Cissy) 3 years and Mary 6 months +, arrived and put down roots at Ashgrove – Brisbane. They arrived in long sleeve shirts and pleated dresses covering their white English skin with very little to protect against this somewhat sunburnt and barren country! Yet a new beginning awaited in their favour leaving the fears of the pre-depression years across the UK and Europe. Grandfather perhaps had an inkling of what was to befall England and the then newly industrialised world of that era and so he set sail for the new country down under far away from the comforts of England.

Seven years earlier Grandfather received from his mother a Piano for his 21st birthday, yet he let go of his secure family surrounding for the promise of a new and open country, the call of the stars down under to British men and women captured Grandfather’s dreams. Fortunately, there was no way back and as the depression took hold across England and Europe, he found that the Brisbane pastures for milking cows lay open, wide and green and Bricklayers were in demand as promised!

The obvious reason Arthur and wife Mary migrated to Australia in the early 20^th century was to find a better life, a healthier and more prosperous life in another part of the British Empire. After World War I, it was recognized that a larger population was needed to protect the Australian nation in the event of another war. Grandfather Arthur Ernest Peach had reconnected with the cell memory of his forebears back to the 18th century when Peter Peach of Maxey was a sheep farmer as well kept other farm animals, now in the pastures of Ashgrove Arthur acquired a herd of milking cows to nourish his growing family and as well laboured his days at bricklaying to earn an income.

By the turn of the twentieth century, the journey to Australia for passengers was shorter and far more comfortable than it had been in the 1850s-1870s.

By 1914, six major companies, the Aberdeen Line, Blue Funnel Line, Orient Line, P & O Line, P & O Branch Line and White Star Line dominated the regular England-Australia run.

The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, gave ships from Europe an alternative route to Australia. By the early 1900s, steamships had become the established method of transport. No longer dependent on the strong winds encountered on the ‘Great Circle’ route, many shipping lines now travelled via the Suez Canal, reducing the length of the journey to Australia to 35 or 40 days. Travel by steamer also led to reliable travelling times, and with larger iron hulls replacing the traditional wooden ones, provided increased room below deck for the passengers. The new steamers offered greater passenger comforts, including grand saloons for first-class passengers and small cabins, instead of sleeping berths in steerage class.

Following World War I, passenger shipping was further transformed by the introduction of steam turbines, cleaner oil-fired boilers and, later, the first diesel-powered motor vessels. However, many passenger ships in this era also carried cargo to remain profitable, leading to compromises in passenger comfort, particularly in third class.

Most of those making the journey to Australia in the early twentieth century were British migrants seeking a healthy and prosperous life in another part of the Empire. After World War I, it was recognised that a larger population was needed to protect the Australian nation in the event of another war. The Australian government looked to Great Britain as a source of immigrants, and encouraged those willing to consider resettlement in Australia by offering them assisted passage. British immigrants were also eligible to receive land grants, or encouraged to take labouring positions in rural areas.

‘Australia’s Offer to the newly married’ advertisement for British emigrants, 1920.

“The Southern Cross”: The stars which shine over Australia: the land of opportunity’, advertising Australia to potential migrants

Arthur Ernest Peach
2/12/1883 –  …/…/1974 (91 years) buried in Brisbane Australia
departed from Peterborough England in 1911
Married – Mary Ann Ford 5’3” tall
…/../1886 – 22/7/1955 (69 years)

• For old birth certificates and ancestry records look into ‘Research’ in the above tags.

Arthur John Peach
8/2/1908 – 24/8/1987 (79.6 years)
Married – Sarah (Sadie) Straughan                                       
1/8/1909 – 1/2/1987 (77.6 years)

Emily (Cissy) Peach
22/1/1909 – 12/8/1985 (76.6 years)
Married- John Sheridan
1/1/1907 – 20/3/1982 (75.3 years)

Mary Elizabeth Peach
16/8/1910 – 3/4/2005 (94.7 years)
Married- Harray Straughan    
3/8/1905 – 1/7/1973 (68 years)

Maisie Ada Peach
11/4/2012 – 3/2/2004 (91.9 years) 
Keith Potter

Sidney George Peach
2/1/1914 – 29/8/1985 (71.7 years)    

Robert William Peach
1/1/1915 – 1/1/1993 (18 years) 

Nellie Peach
2/11/1916 –waiting information
Married – Harold Chapman
2/4/1918 – waiting information

Lillian Peach
15/2/1998- 15/4/2011 (93.2 years)
Married – Keilor Callaghan                                      
10/10/1916 – 6/2/1991 (74.4 years)

Elsie May Peach
12/7/1921 – waiting information
Married  – Frank Maher                                                             
Married – Fred Kelso

Robert William Peach
14/11/1922 – 21/10/2006 (84 years) 
Married – Turl Chapman – waiting information

Eric Peach
28/7/1925 – 9/8/2011 (86.1 years)
Married – Alice Sharp 
28/4/1929 – waiting information

Roy Peach
28/1925 – 22/9/2010 (85.2 years)
Married – Gladys Amy Crisford                                              
10/3/1923 – 5/5/2011 (88.2)

Thelma Peach
1/8/1928 – 19/5/2006 (77.8 years)
Married – David Pearson                                          
14/2/1926 – 2/2/2000 (74 years)

For individual Family Trees open the tag above “Family Trees”