Connecting the dots

[Kit]

I acquired a cemetery transcription book today and had a look for my common surnames. I've found one but she is buried with a name I have never heard of. I know the woman may not be mine at all but it's got me why she is in the same grave.

The details are:

Henry Shayler d 1/3/1890 aged 44y
William Shayler (son of Henry) died 15/12/1880 aged 11 months
Frederick W Shayler d 27/9/1892 aged 10y 9m
Mary Ann Best 16/7/1896 aged 83y
Harriet Shayler (wife of Henry) d 27/2/1915 aged 66y

The book states the burial records state Mary A Best 16-7-1916
Harriett Shayler 67 years.

They were all buried at Mays Hill Cemetery in Parramatta

[kiterunner]

Would she be Harriet's mother?

[Kit]

I don't know Kate. Harriet was a Pullen they married 1872. Just looked it up now.

[Kit]

There is no Pullen - Best marriage but it doesn't mean it isn't more complicated than that.

[Kit]

I'm off to bed now, not ignoring anyone.

I did try and find a newspaper notice for Mary's death but could not.

Mary is not Henry's mother remarried either as NSW BDM says his mother was Sarah.

[kiterunner]

Harriet's parents' names on her death reg are Thomas and Mary Ann.

And Mary A's death reg shows her mother as Mary A.

[kiterunner]

There is a Henrietta Best, daughter of Thomas and Mary, born 1847 at Gulgong, Mudgee, NSW. Henrietta and Harriet often seem to be interchangeable names. I can't see a Harriet Pullen born around the right time, though of course she may not have been born in Australia.

[kiterunner]

The newspaper notice for Harriet's death says that she was a native of Liverpool, NSW.

And "Harietta Best" married a John McArthur at Mudgee in 1870, so I think I am on the wrong trail! Also there is a Henrietta McArthur, daughter of Thomas and Mary, who dies in NSW in 1923.

Back to the drawing board...

[kiterunner]

Ah, now looking for Best / Mary marriages, there is an Edwin Best / Mary Ann Good marriage in 1861 at Penrith, NSW, and ancestry suggested earlier that those names were connected with the Mary Ann who died in 1896, so maybe someone has these people in their public tree? Will have a look... edit, no, that seems to be a different Mary Ann. Must just have been ancestry getting in a muddle!

[kiterunner]

Well, I still think that Mary Ann Best is Harriet's mother, just can't find anything to prove it!

[kiterunner]

Here is a picture of the gravestone, but I can't make out what it says:

http://austcemindex.com/inscription.php?id=8491041

Is it transcribed in full in the book, Toni?

[Kit]

Hi, just popped in quickly, have to get the kids up and to school. Yes the gravestone is transcribed in full.

[Kit]

I've just sent a message to an ancestry public tree owner. She has photos of Henry Shayler so maybe she knows who is buried with him.

He may have been a police man, who came out from England. It's also possible Mary Best, is a female relative of Henry's who came out from England.