Thomas BURBURY (????--????)
Thomas James Arthur BURBURY (????--????)
In the Chronicles of the Burbury Family, which was written by my great-grandfather Alfred Burbury, there is a passing reference given to an officer by this name who came to Hobart Town in Tasmania.
James [the younger brother of Thomas Burbury of Van Diemen's Land] carried on a jewellery business for several years, then left for Victoria during the gold digging era there, about 1862. His son James was a well-known auctioneer and commission agent at one time in Northern Victoria. I have a copy of a letter written by him to my brother Thomas of Park Farm in which he writes:
"About 1861 a Man-of-War came to Hobart Town. An officer, all covered with lace, whose name was Thomas James Arthur Burbury [my emphasis], brought a small dog-skin covered case from India for the Burbury family here: my dad [James Burbury Senior] sent for your grandfather [Thomas Burbury], and the officer handed to him the box and a key in a sealed packet. It contained military papers and photos and some jewellery, including two rings, one of which my dad kept, your grandfather taking the other: Dad gave the seal ring to me when he was dying - I must never part with it; it had been through many families: Your Grandfather kept a set of seals engraved TB. The papers and photos were kept by my father, but were destroyed when his house was burned."
I have seen the ring, which had on it an engraving of the family Crest, a Roman Head, and tried to get it from James Burbury when he was a very old man with no son to hand it on to. I don't know who has it now. The Seals my brother's family still have.
I have tried to trace the Man-of-War, but there is no mention of this or any other war vessel in the Marine Board's records of that time, such vessels being outside the jurisdiction of the Board. [1]
I have not been able to find anything to confirm or deny this account, and I have no idea who this Thomas James Arthur Burbury might have been.
William BURBURY (????--????)
William Burbury was a resident of Stretton on Dunsmore, Warwickshire when he married Elizabeth Russell on 26 November 1770 in the parish of Saint Nicholas, Kenilworth, the bride's home parish. The marriage was by licence and the witnesses were Thos. Russell and Benj. Twycross [1].
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William and Elizabeth had four children, all of whom were baptised in the parish of Stretton on Dunsmore. The first two children died in infancy, and nothing definite is known of the other two apart from their dates of baptism [2]. Although nothing is known for sure about the two surviving children Mary and William, they are both possbble ancestors for other Burbury families who lived in Stretton on Dunsmore and the surrounding area. Specifically, Mary is a possible candidate -- in fact, I think she's the *best* candidate -- for the Mary Burbury who was the earliest-known ancestor of the Stretton on Dunsmore Burbury family. And William is a possible candidate for William Burbury of Stoneleigh, who was the ancestor of the Stoneleigh Burbury family. |
 Figure 1 - Family of William and Elizabeth Burbury of Stretton on Dunsmore |
Click here to read a discussion of who were the parents of William Burbury of Stoneleigh
Click here to go to the information page for the Stoneleigh Burbury family
Click here to go to the information page for the Stretton on Dunsmore Burbury family
As for the senior William Burbury, his origins are a mystery. Assuming he was of age when he was married in 1770, his date of birth could have been any time before 1750, and with a name as common as William, this fits a number of candidates, as shown in the table below.
| No. | Ref. No. | Date of baptism | Parish | Names of parents |
| (1) | William | 21 Jan 1744 | Bourton On Dunsmore | William & Mary (née CONSTANCE) BURBRAY [3] |
| (2) | William | 3 Mar 1748 | Wolston | William & Elizabeth (née GEORGE) BURBURY [4] |
| (3) | William | 28 Dec 1751 | Clifford Chambers | Edward & Sarah (née TULFORD) BURBURY [5] |
I would tend to discount William (3) straight away as a possibility; he would have been only 19 if he got married in 1770 -- which isn't impossible of course, just a bit unlikely. Moreover, he belongs to the Kenilworth Burbury family, and as far as I know none of the other members of this family lived in Stretton on Dunsmore anywhere around this time.
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So this leaves William (1) or William (2) as possible candidates for the William who married Elizabeth Russell. And of the two, I would tend to favour William (1) over William (2). The reasons for this are less to do with William himself, and more to do with the rest of his family, particularly his daughter Mary. In my article on the Stretton on Dunsmore Burbury family, I have shown why I believe that William's daughter Mary was the ancestor of the Stretton family. In this way, a strong link to Stretton on Dunsmore can be demonstrated by William and Elizabeth's family and the subsequent family of their daughter Mary. The link is potentially strengthened when you consider that William (1)'s brother Thomas -- who married Catherine MITCHEL -- also settled in Stoneleigh some time before 1780 and remained there until his death in 1816 [2]. The hypothesis can perhaps be shown more clearly by the chart shown at right: If this hypothesis is true, then it would make William a member of the Bourton on Dunsmore Burbery family, and would also provide the link that would allow us to fuse the Bourton on Dunsmore Burbery family and the Stretton on Dunsmore Burbery family into a single family -- which would be fantastic if I could be absolutely certain of my conclusions. |
 Figure 2 - Hypothetical Link between the Bourton on Dunsmore and Stretton on Dunsmore Families |
Click here to go to the information page for the Stretton on Dunsmore Burbury family
Click here to go to the information page for the Bourton on Dunsmore Burbery family
William BURBURY (d. bef 1742)
William BURBURY (b. abt. 1808)
In a publication titled Index to Port Jackson Convicts by Lesley Uebel, there is a reference to a William Burbury who was tried and convicted in Gibraltar in 1837, and sentenced to transportation for seven years. He arrived in Port Jackson, New South Wales on the ship "Portsea" in 1838, and at the time he was aged 30 [1].
This seems to be the only reference that can be found for this person. The Queensland Family History Society Pre-Separation Population Index contains two references to a William BURBERY, who was described as a British citizen and a convict [2]. No further information on these entries has been obtained, but they might be referring to the same person.
There was also a William Burbery who married Elizabeth Hart in Paddington, Sydney in 1855 [3] and who died in Sydney in 1882 [4]. According to this William's death certificate, he was born about 1818 in Coventry, which is ten years too late for him to be the same person as this convict.
However, I should note that I have not seen the convict records for this William Burbury myself, and so this should be done, at least to check the alleged age and dates involved.
Other related links: