Rowney Family Tree

Thomas was believed to have been born around 1820. His place of birth was recorded as Escourt at the time of his marriage. It seems likely that this might refer to the village near Malmesbury, Wiltshire, now known as Eastcourt. Returns from the 1841 census have identified a POULTON family living at Eastcourt in Wiltshire with names and ages suggesting that Thomas may well have been related. He has been tentatively associated with the family of Charles and Sarah POULTON which seems the most plausible, although no firm proof of this connection has been found. The 1832 electoral roll of Gloucestershire records an Edward POULTON at Horsley and a Thomas POULTON of Tetbury, who might also have been related.

Thomas appears to have moved to the region around the village of Wickwar, in nearby Gloucestershire, early in his life. There are a great number of POULTON families with traditional ties to this general area in Gloucestershire and it is quite likely that the POULTON family from around Eastcourt was related to them in some way. Thomas may have followed some family connection to the region.

Thomas married Ann PRICE from Wickwar in 1840. They were married by the curate W.D. PONTING after banns in the parish church at Wickwar. Thomas would have been about 20 years old at that time, and Ann around 24 years of age. On their marriage certificate Ann is described as "of full age" whereas Thomas is described as a "minor". They were both living in Wickwar when they were married, and Thomas was employed as a labourer. Neither Thomas nor Ann provided any information on their respective fathers in the applicable place on the marriage register. The witnesses at their wedding were Elizabeth BARNARD and Charles BROWN.

In the 1841 census, Thomas (aged 20+) and Ann (aged 25+) were living at Westend, in Wickwar. They were employed as servants at the home of a yeoman, John MINETT (aged 60+), and his wife, Sarah.

Thomas and Ann's first known child, Elizabeth, was born at Wickwar in 1843. Thomas was farming at Wickwar by that time. Their son John was born at nearby Dursley in 1845, and then James was born around 1848 again in Wickwar. Their next child, William, was born at another nearby town, North Nibley, in 1850. There are a lot of POULTON families with a long history at Dursley who may be worth looking at closely for family connections.

Thomas signed the birth certificate of his daughter Elizabeth with a mark, indicating that he was probably illiterate.

Thomas' father is believed to have died in 1849, so it is possible that he may have inherited something around that time if Charles had any property of note.

In the 1851 census, Thomas (aged 28) and Ann (aged 35) were living in the village of Kingswood, in Gloucestershire. Thomas was described as a "former farmer" from Estcourt. They had their four children at home with them at that time; Elizabeth (aged 8), John (aged 6), James (aged 3), and William (aged 1). John was attending school. The family was living in Section I of the Kingswood Parish, as defined in the census, which consisted of that part of the parish from Vineyard Bridge lying on the Northside of the Churchyard - The North side of Abbey Street - Charfield Road to Watson Bridge including Grange Farm - Watson Farm - Hills Mill - Lower Berks - ? - And New Mill - Chaford Bridge - Hopyard.

In 1852, Ann gave birth to their fifth child, Charles, in North Nibley.

Shortly after Charles was born, Thomas and Ann must have decided to leave England. They emigrated with their five children, sailing aboard the ship "Omega" and arrived in the colony of South Australia on 24 Aug 1852. It is said that they made their first home in a dugout in Drayton Street, Bowden (SA), in the Hindmarsh (SA) area of North Adelaide (SA). The POULTON's sixth and final child, Thomas Edward, was born two years later, in 1855.

In 1856, the family was stricken, when Thomas (sr) died at just 36 years of age. He died in Bowden from the effects of an abscess in his liver. He left his widowed wife Ann struggling to raise their young family alone in a strange new land. The family at the time of his death would have consisted of; Ann (aged 40), and her children, Elizabeth (aged 13), John (aged 11), James (aged 8), William (aged 6), Charles (aged 4), and Thomas (aged 2).

The records of the South Australian Destitute Asylum indicate that a POULTON family from Bowden received assistance on 27 Nov 1856. This was just a month after Thomas died. The record contains a note stating that they "refused having cows". It is interesting to note that in December 1856 the family of Maria ROWNEY also sought relief from the Destitute Asylum in Bowden while her husband William ROWNEY was away prospecting. Two POULTON children later married offspring of William ROWNEY's brother Thomas. It seems that Thomas ROWNEY was living at Darley (SA) by that time, and Maria had also been living in that area too, before apparently returning to Bowden. The POULTON and ROWNEY families may have become known to each other around this time.

There is a suggestion that the POULTON's may have owned a significant tract of land in the area to the south of Adelaide, around Unley (SA) and Kingswood (SA). This has not been confirmed however. The naming of the suburb of Kingswood may be significant in this context.

Ann never remarried. She died from dropsy 11 years later in 1867 at the age of 51. None of the children had married by the time they had lost both parents. Both Thomas and Ann were buried in the Hindmarsh Cemetery.