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 John Dunwoodie and son Samuel
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| Pat Spence |
Posted on 22/01/2010 12:39
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 New Member  Posts: 1 Joined: 15/01/2010 |
JOHN DUNWOODIE’s wife was Margaret Jane Bell who may have been, according to family stories, from the Isle of Man. They likely married sometime before their son Samuel Dunwoodie’s birth in Belfast Co Down about 1843 which is calculated from Samuel’s age at death and the time he had spent in Australia. There may of course have been other siblings born previously [currently unknown]. On his son Samuel Dunwoodie’s Marriage Certificate in Brisbane Queensland in 1866 Samuel’s father John Dunwoodie’s occupation was stated as a Coastguard in Donegal. Information was given by Samuel himself. When Samuel Dunwoodie died accidentally in Townsville in 1887 [he slipped on wet cement in his hotel basement while making lemonade he was aged about 43] his wife Mary Dunwoodie [nee Lynch] supplied the details on his death certificate and gave his father a change of Christian name as ‘James’ Dunwoodie and his father’s occupation was stated to be “ships captain” There is also a family story of John’s wife Margaret Jane Bell writing to the Dunwoodie family in Queensland from Aberdeen. SAMUEL BELL DUNWOODIE John’s son was born about 1843 in Belfast Co Down [Information calculated from his Marriage Certificate in Queensland] He married in1866 in Brisbane Queensland to Mary Lynch from Cavan at St Stephens Chapel a RC church. His father’s occupation was stated in 1866 as Coastguard in Donegal. Samuel’s eldest child was a son named “JOHN EDWARD” Samuel and Mary Dunwoodie had six children John Edward, Ellen Maria, William Samuel, Elizabeth Sophia [my grandmother], James, and George Paul Samuel Dunwoodie is stated in numerous family accounts to have been a British Navy Diver and he certainly is recorded in early Queensland Government records as the Government diver. He is reported as diving to survey the foundations for the Brisbane wharves, for Mourilyan Harbour, for Lloyds of London to report on wrecked shipping on the Queensland coast, and also on the wreck of the ‘Gothenburg’ in 1875 near Bowen North Queensland to retrieve a gold shipment [unsuccessful]. There are newspaper reports of his being called before a Queensland Court hearing as an ‘expert witness with 20 years diving experience’ in 1877. From these details it would seem he joined the navy quite young possibly at 14 and must have had diving training/experience almost from the time he began naval service. I do realize the details are limited but thirty years searching from Australia have provided no significant information and as I am heading for 75 I can’t see a visit to the National Archives at Kew happening for me in the near future. Can anyone offer some clues for an online search or perhaps refer me to a researcher who can shed some light on my two elusive Dunwoodie seamen - John as a coastguard and Samuel as a Navy diver. Pat Spence |
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