Cambridgeshire Parish Map - south east of Cambridge
Cambridgeshire
Home of the Eversdens, Dockrills, Riders, Ivetts
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EVERSDEN
The Eversden family has been traced by an Eversden family historian (UK) back to William Ewsden 1495 - 1553. William was the 9 x great grandfather of Lewis James Eversden, who emigrated to Queensland with his family on the Flying Cloud in 1864. The spelling of the family name changed to Eversden with William's son, Thomas who was born in 1520. The family name would have originated in the villages of Great Eversden and Little Eversden, 10 km south-west of Cambridge. Wikipedia says: The name Eversden means "vale of a man named Eofory" and the villages have been separate parishes since the 13th century. It has evolved over the centuries, at times spelt Eversdon. Lewis James Eversden 1835 - 1924 was born at Foxton, about 15 km south of Cambridge. |
Lewis James Eversden
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DOCKRILL
Between 1640 and 1840, the Dockrill family lived in and around Great Shelford and Little Shelford villages, about 10 km south south east of Cambridge. William Dockrill was born in 1830 in Great Shelford as was his sister, Sophia, in 1836. Sophia married Lewis James Eversden. Google suggests the Dockrill surname dates from the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. The name originated with an early member who was a trapper of small game; it literally means "cut the hare's tail," from the Old English words dokc, which meant "cut off," and hare, a word that has not changed meaning. William Dockrill emigrated to Moreton Bay (then New South Wales) in 1852. |
Dockrill headstone - Southport Cemetery
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RIDER
The Rider family lived in and around Great Shelford and Little Shelford from at least the 17th century onwards. Jane Rider, born out of wedlock at Little Shelford in 1837, adopted her mother's surname. Jane emigrated to Moreton Bay in 1853. |
1909 Jane Rider
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IVETT
The Ivett family lived in Cambridgeshire but do not appear to have the same multi-century continuity of living in the area south east of Cambridge as the Eversden and the Dockrill families Jane's aunt, Charlotte Rider, married Thomas Ivett. Thomas and Charlotte emigrated to Moreton Bay on the same ship as William Dockrill. The Ivetts became a well-known Ipswich family. My father and I both attended school with Ivett descendants. |
Charlotte Rider & descendant
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INTER-RELATIONSHIPS
The families were familiar with one another over many years and generations prior to emigration. A sense of belonging to a small Cambridgeshire village society persisted in Queensland long after arrival. Jane Rider emigrated (alongside an uncle and his family) to join the Ivett family in Ipswich. Lewis Eversden and family emigrated to join William Dockrill in the wilds of the Moonie. Lewis & William had probably met or knew of each other prior to William's 1852 emigration, but if so, Lewis was barely 16 when William's ship set sail. 28 years and 7 children after arriving in Australia, widow Jane Rider married Lewis Eversden. Jane and Lewis established a boarding house at Southport eight years later. The name Cambridge House was indeed very appropriate. The stories of the Eversden, McLaran, Dockrill, and Rider families (the Browns) were interwoven over many years, from the arrival of the Eversdens in 1864, the marriages of the 1879 and 1880, the purchase of Haran, retirement to Southport, the deaths of Dockrill in 1913 and Jane and Lewis in 1917 and 1924, until finally the passing of Clara Eversden in 1956. |
Cambridge House built 1888, demolished 1950
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