"My name is Eleanor Brash. I am a descendant of a THOMAS family and the Ellen THOMAS married to James Danvers LEECE as mentioned in your article "Welcome From Penrhyn to Australia" has to belong to my tree. Why I think this is that you have mentioned her married sister Annie STRATFORD and their being in New Zealand as well as Australia.

In 2002 I came into the possession of letters belonging to my late maternal grandmother. One of these was written by an Annie Stratford ( nee Thomas ).

My grandmother's maiden name was Philomena Mary Ellen THOMAS. She had a Great Uncle John THOMAS and the letter I mentioned earlier was addressed to this John THOMAS. Annie STRATFORD refers to him as "My Dear Uncle". I still don't know the exact connection between these women. My efforts to piece this THOMAS family together have been slow and are by no means complete. Though only last week I decided that my subscription to Ancestry.com.uk was an expensive luxury that I had long exhausted so I declined to renew my membership. As there are so many loose ends I find I can't let the matter drop so every so often I "google" and that's how I came across your article.

I see you've mentioned that you don't have much on Ellen THOMAS'S background. Even so, I thought it worth making contact. If you've any information you think might help me I'be be extremely grateful for it. Likewise, if I can pass on any information that is of help to you,please ask.

I have to admit to being absolutely stunned to come across your information. My grandmother and her daugther ( i.e my late mother )always seemd reluctant to talk about their origins. They migrated from the UK to Victoria ( Australia ) in 1924."

Regards Eleanor Brash
Sydney
Australia

to contact Eleanor Brash click here

A letter from William Leece of Liverpool with information of historical interest regarding an ex-resident of Penrhyndeudraeth. Any queries can be forwarded to Mr Leece here

I was pointed in the direction of this site by Arthur Thomas of Clwb Beic Modur Eryri, but on looking round it I realised that I may be able to offer some information of interest to local historians.

The attached picture shows Ellen Thomas (1836-77), her husband James Danvers Leece (1826-1907) and her fifth child Alexander Ellis Leece (1866-1939).
Ellen was born in Penrhyn and married James, a Liverpool-born sea captain, in Sydney, Australia, in 1853. The family later moved to New Zealand where Ellen died, and James eventually returned to Australia where he died and is buried in Uralla, NSW.

They had ten children in all, of whom six grew to adfulthood and had families of their own in both Australia and New Zealand. Among their direct descendents are Lorraine Crapp, who won both gold and silver medals for swimming in the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, and Bob Leece, the civil engineer who oversaw all the construction projects for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

Of Ellen's family back in Wales I can't offer much information, apart from the fact that her mother was also an Ellen, I gather. Just for the record, James was my great grandfather's brother. Great-grandfather Alexander Leece also married a Welsh girl, but from the other side of Snowdonia, from Caernarfon.

If anyone has any queries I'll do my best to answer them, or establish links with Ellen's descendents in New Zealand and Australia.

Regards

William Leece
Liverpool