My great-great-great grandmother, Jane Sanders.

My maternal great-great-great grandmother, Jane Sanders, was born in Enfield, Middlesex, in 1830, the first daughter of shoemaker Edward Sanders and his wife Jane Draper. Above is her baptism entry in the records of St Andrews, Enfield, where she and all of her siblings were baptised between 1828 and 1850.
The surname seems to have alternated between 'Sanders' and 'Saunders', but the latter was used far less frequently and appears to have been a misspelling when it did appear.
Edward Sanders married Jane Draper on April 9, 1827, at All Hallows, Tottenham.Their first child was a son whom they named Thomas:
Thomas Sanders baptised April 20, 1828, St Andrew, Enfield.Other siblings to follow included:
Jane Sanders baptised April 7, 1830, St Andrew, Enfield.
Henry Sanders baptised September 30, 1832, St Andrew, Enfield.
Susan Sanders baptised October 1835, St Andrew, Enfield.
Elizabeth Sanders baptised July 18, 1841, St. Andrew, Enfield
Emma Sanders baptised August 27, 1843, St. Andrew, Enfield
Sarah Sanders baptised December 5, 1847, St Andrew, Enfield.
Edward Sanders, baptised February 17, 1850, St Andrew, Enfield.

The 1841 census finds the Sanders family living at Chase Side in the parish of Enfield. Father Edward was still earning a living as a shoemaker, and as well as his wife Jane,their first five children made up the household...14 year old Thomas,12 year old Jane, Henry who was 8, Susan 5 and the baby Elizabeth who was only 3 months old.
Ten years later, at the time of the 1851 census, the Sanders family had changed enormously...whilst Edward and Jane had welcomed children Emma, Sarah and Edward into the fold, their eldest two children, Thomas and Jane, had emigrated to Australia and children Henry and Susan had moved away from home for work.

Thomas Sanders, their eldest son, married Sarah Emma Coles on 17 Oct 1848 at St Andrews Church, Enfield. The following month they boarded the ship 'Osprey' as part of a consignment of 312 immigrants bound for Victoria.Another passenger on board was Thomas's sister, Jane Sanders, who at the age of 18 had decided to try her luck on the other side of the world.
The shipping record for the Osprey stated that Jane SAUNDERS was 18 years old, a native of Enfield; her calling was a housemaid, religion Episcopalian and she could both read and write. This latter piece of information was most likely incorrect, as various documents that Jane had to sign during her life reveal that she signed her name with a cross.
The passage to Australia had been a tough one, with disease prevalent during the trip. Melbourne newspapers reported:
"The Osprey, which arrived last night, left Plymouth with 313 emigrants for this port. During the voyage dysentery and fever prevailed, especially amongst the children. There were, during the voyage, ten deaths and nine births; she has consequently arrived here with one passenger less than she sailed with. The disease still continues on board, there being 13 persons on the doctor's list; but no contagious malady has ever made its appearance amongst them.
Plymouth, the port she last left, was free from cholera and other contagious diseases. We have not yet been able to ascertain when the emigrants will open for engagement, nor any other particulars, no-one being allowed to go on board before she has passed the inspections of the proper authorities.
-Geelong Chronicle, March 23, 1849."

" The Osprey- This vessel, says the Geelong Advertiser of Saturday, was examined by a medical board yesterday, when it was found that the sickness was very triding(??), and that all those who had been ill were convalescent. She is a teetotal ship. All those who have had an opportunity of examining this noble vessel speak in the most flattering terms of the admirable arrangements and extreme cleanliness on board her. A large proportion of the emigrants are Scotch farm servants, but there are also a few of the ragged school boys on board. The following is the most complete classification of the immigrants we have been able to obtain:-
Married couples- 50
Single young men: 79
Single young women: 45
Children: 137
The board will sit this day, and the immigrants will be for hire on Monday next."


The Osprey arrived in Geelong on March 22, 1849, having set sail from Deptford on November 9, 1848, and Plymouth on November 24 1848. After their arrival in Victoria, Thomas and his wife Sarah headed north to Benalla, where their first child Alice Emma Sanders was born in 1850.
An article which was published in The Argus newspaper on Friday 10 October 1851 mentions Thomas Sanders in relation to the discovery of gold in the district of Benalla:
" Benalla: This township has been excited for some time past owing to the many recent discoveries of gold in this Colony, but never has it risen to so great a pitch as at the present moment. This was occasioned by the return, a few days ago, of the party of gold seekers mentioned in a previous letter, successful in their search. The names of the parties to whom the credit of the discovery is due are Henry Wilkinson, an old Californian; Jabez Hindes, the village blacksmith; Richard Evans; Patrick Cain and Thomas Sanders.
It appears the former individual was much struck, on his arrival in this district, with the features of many parts of the country and its similarity to those of California; he determined on prospecting, and formed the party for that purpose. Their statement is that they found gold four days after leaving this place, in the Broken River, but it was of too minute a quantity to pay for working. They then penetrated many miles to the eastward of Mount Buller, until they reached the snowy region, where they were camped four days.
They retraced their steps to the Devils River, and renewed their search, and were fortunate enough to find it in the 'Glen ___' about a mile and a half from the station, formerly Lockhart and Mackenzie's. The metal is of a very bright and pure description; it was found on the surface of a bed of slate, which crops out of the ground in this locality, extending for some miles in a southerly direction. Wilkinson, evidently an experienced digger, states his impression that it will turn out as rich a goldfield as any in California. He has started, accompanied by the others, with four gullies in the spot, to commence operation. Numbers follow in a few days, and I may safely say that in a fortnight this township will be deserted.
As you pass through the place your eye encounters symptoms of the prevailing spirit, in cradles, picks and spades, with here and there a motley group of persons of all ages and sizes, from infancy to manhood,discussing the wonderful luck of the fortunate ones at Ballarat, their attitudes and sundry convulsive twitching of their hands and arms, leading you to conceive they were in imagination clutching each a monster nugget of the precious metal. Seven large grains, the produce of the first tin dish washed, have been forwarded to the Colonial Secretary by the Crown Commissioner, and that gentleman proceeds to the spot on the 15th inst.for the purpose of issuing licenses.
On Saturday the gold hunters were regaled with a capital dinner provided by Mr Brown, to which 40 persons did ample justice. The evening passed off harmoniously, and at its conclusion the goldfield was named Wilkinson's Diggings. The distance from here to the spot is 35 miles. 8 September, 1851."

Prior to Thomas Sanders' goldmining adventure, his wife had given birth to Alice Emma Sanders on March 21,1850, in Benalla. When she was baptised on June 11, 1850, it was noted that her Alice's father, Thomas Sanders, was a labourer of Benalla.
Another daughter, Emily, was born c. 1853, but no trace can be found of her birth or baptism. By the time daughter number three had arrived in 1855, the Sanders family had moved to the Warrnambool district, where they would remain for the rest of their lives.
My great-great-great grandmother, Jane Sanders, who had also stepped off the Osprey in March of 1849, must have gone her separate way from her brother and sister-in-law, because in September of 1852, there appeared a series of five advertisements in the Argus newspaper:
" If JANE SANDERS, late of Enfield, will write to Mr. William Ellingnorth, butcher, Collingwood, Melbourne, she will see or hear of her brother THOMAS SANDERS."

By 1852, Jane Sanders was living as the wife of Irishman John Everard and had presented him with daughter named Elizabeth in c. 1850 and a son named John David the following year. The couple were not married, although they lived as husband and wife and gave non-existent marriage details on the birth certificates of later children Thomas and Annie.