Rookwood Cemetery Discoveries

 Today's blog is the follow up I promised when I wrote about Nina Eva Vida Jones - the racing car driver (click on the tag of her name to read that blog). I said that she came from a family that included Matthew Harris and his father John (and more) that originated in this country from the early days of the colony. THE HARRIS FAMILY (pre Nina Eva Vida Jones nee Harris) Nina was the daughter of William Henry Harris and Susan Mary Newton Clarke, both parents of Irish descent. William came to Australia with his parents John and Nancy Ann and was the youngest of six children. John, a merchant, had inherited wealth from his uncle, a well renown early Colonial, and migrated to this country to manage his legacy. That uncle was John Harris, a member of the NSW Corps, appointed a surgeon who arrived in the Colony with the ill-fated Second Fleet in 1790. The Second Fleet consisted of three ships where convicts were mistreated, rations were poor and sickness rife with over 25% dying o...

  Well, it’s that time of year when there are not enough hours in the day and we tend to race around in ever increasing circles. It got me thinking about women and racing. Here is one woman who took on the men and beat them at their own game! NINA EVA VIDA JONES (1882-1966) Nina was born on 30th January 1882 at Livingstone House, Harris Street, Ultimo, Sydney, the youngest daughter of William Henry Harris and his wife Susan Mary, née Clarke. She was the niece of John and Sir Matthew Harris (who will be the subject of a separate blog in the future). On 2nd of April 1910 Nina Eva Vida Harris married John Alexander Stammers Jones, only son of the late William Watkin Jones, a Welsh mining surveyor, and his wife Eliza. After his mother re-married John became a resident of Lithgow and took over the running of the Zig Zag Brewery after his stepfather Henry (Harry) Phillip Corbett had stepped down sometime in the 1890's. He had the distinction of being the youngest fully qua...