Morley, Helena - I699

Steerage Class Passenger ♀

Helena Morley
24 Jun 1856 – 27 May 1935
Helena Morley, ca 1902-06
Nationality	Cornish
Born	24 Jun 1856 Stoke Climsland, Cornwall
Died	27 May 1935 Brighton, South Australia
Genealogy Data
Person ID	I699
Birth Family
Morley Family - F204
Father	James Morley  (d. 1870)
Mother	Ela Gregory
Marriage Family/Families
Crimp Family - F202
Spouse	John Crimp  (d. 1902)
Nationality	Unknown
Married	6 Apr 1883 St. Peter's, Melbourne, Victoria
Dinsdale Family - F203
Spouse	Edward Dinsdale  (d. 1927)
Nationality	Unknown
Married	23 Jun 1906 Brighton, South Australia
Voyage Data
Voyage to Adelaide in 1874
Personal role	Steerage Class Passenger
Name on list	Helena Morley
Age on voyage	18
Occupation	Domestic Servant
Joined place	Plymouth
Left place	Adelaide

Helena Morley was one of the Cornish migrants on the 1874 Voyage of the City of Adelaide to South Australia. Helena was born at Stoke Climsland, Cornwall, daughter of James Morley and Ela (nee Gregory). Born 24 June 1856, Helena was only 17 years old when she embarked on the voyage at Plymouth and turned 18 years old a few weeks later while at sea.

All Helena's siblings (bar one) and her mother also came out to Australia, but it would appear that they mostly came here individually and not as a family group.

Among the passengers on that voyage were 146 English, 46 Scots, 60 Irish and 5 'foreigners' bound for the new land - in total there were 257 souls aboard. Sadly, during the voyage, an outbreak of Scarlet Fever took the lives of six young passengers. There was also one birth aboard.

At 3am on the 24th August 1874 the City of Adelaide anchored off Kirkcaldy Beach. Later in the morning she became stranded during a storm and dragged on her anchor. Some cargo was taken off, and she was re-floated and moved around to Port Adelaide where the passengers disembarked safely.

Helena married John Crimp at St. Peter's, Melbourne, Victoria, on 06 Apr 1883. She had been calling herself Mrs. Crimp for a couple of years prior to this. They were residents of Brighton, South Australia, and after John Crimp died in 1902, Helena married Edward Dinsdale on 23 June 1906 at Brighton, SA.

Edward Dinsdale died in 1927 at Brighton and Helena died 27 May 1935 at Brighton. She was buried at St. Jude's Church, Brighton, on 28 May 1935. Helena did not have any children.

Helena's parents were James MORLEY and Ela (nee GREGORY) from Cornwall. They came out to South Australia in 1849, went mining at Burra, then went to the Victorian goldfields c1851,and then returned home to Cornwall again c1854/5. They had two children whilst in Australia, but all of their other children, including Helena, were born when they were back in Cornwall. James (snr) died in Cornwall in 1870 and Ela remarried in 1874. She was living in SA again by 1890 but it is not known on which ship she came.

Morley family playing draughts

The above photograph was provided by the MORLEY family, who believed one of the women to be Helena, but were not absolutely certain. It was known that the photo shows Helena’s brother James MORLEY seated on the left hand side and that the women are his sisters. Until recently the family had no other photos of the sisters to know which was which. Having received photos of two of the sisters has helped in determining who is who.

The sister standing on the left is either Georgiana (or Jemima) MORLEY. The sister standing on the right is Mary Ann MORLEY. The sister in the black dress, seated in the centre, is therefore Helena MORLEY. The other man is believed to be a husband of one of the standing sisters. Helena’s black dress may indicate that she had recently been widowed. The photo would therefore date from sometime between the death of her first husband in 1902 and her second marriage in 1906. It would have been taken at the home of one of the sisters in Adelaide, probably Brighton. James was visiting from Victoria at the time.

References

Source: Anne Napier (nee Morley), July 2009.