Was "Matilda Armstrong" my most elusive ancestor?
 |
| "Matilda" |
Here's my maternal great-grandmother "Matilda Armstrong". Well that's what Mum's written on the back of the photo. We often talked about Matilda's husband, John Henry Lutge, drowning in the bombora off Grotto Point in Middle Harbour when Mum was a baby. Mum couldn't remember meeting her paternal grandmother.
In about 1905, John Henry and Matilda built their family home on a large block of land in Cremorne. Within 20 years, the land was subdivided and sections resumed for roads. By 1925, their home sat on a "quarter acre block" and Mum's parents were building next door. So Mum grew up living next door to the house that had been the home of her paternal grandparent. But what had happened to her grandmother?
Mum knew her Dad had siblings. She'd remark how strange it was that she never met her paternal first cousins even the one who shared her name, Beryl Lutge. Yet Mum grew up close to her father's uncles, aunts and first cousins.
 |
| John Henry |
My family history journey didn't start until the year after Mum died. One driver was old photos like these of Matilda and John Henry. And I wanted answers.
Starting my search for Matilda
First stop was the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages:-
- 1938 death: Matilda Winton Lutge, Petersham, aged 70 years (1211/1938)
- 1891 marriage: John H Lutge and Matilda Winton, Sydney (391/1891)
- 1892 birth and death: Ellen A Lutge, St Leonards (32658/1892, 12103/1892)
- 1893 birth and death: Harold H A Lutge, Leichhardt (19750/1893, 8119/1893)
- 1895 birth and 1970 death: Clifford J S Lutge, Annandale and Goulburn (1102/1895, 24355/1970)
- 1898 birth and 1964 death: my grandfather, Kelvin W Lutge, Moree and St Leonards (4995/1898, 30390/1964)
- 1906 birth and 1966 death: Helene P Lutge, Mosman and St Leonards (26208/1906, 16899/1966)
A few surprises here:-
- Mum was ten when her grandmother died.
- Matilda's family name was Winton not Armstrong when she married.
- My grandfather's sister and brother were alive when he died in 1964.
- I couldn't find a birth registration for Matilda Armstrong or Matilda Winton.
While I was waiting for the marriage and death certificates, Trove just added to my confusion. Thomas and Ellen Armstrong were surely Matilda's parents.
 |
| 1900 funeral of Thomas Armstrong, beloved father of Mr and Mrs J H Lutge |
 |
 |
 |
| 1893 funeral of Harold H A Lutge, beloved grandson of Mr and Mrs Thomas Armstrong |
Matilda's death certificate contained more surprises. Matilda Winton Lutge had died on 31 December 1937 in Digby Private Hospital, Petersham but her usual residence was with her daughter, Helene Phillips, in Patrick Street Willoughby. Mum and Matilda lived seven kilometres apart.
John Henry and Matilda's marriage certificate showed that Matilda was 23 and living with Thomas and Ellen Armstrong when she married. Her father was Henry Winton. She was born in Redfern.
So it was back to the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages to look for Matilda Winton born about 1868 around Redfern. Only one came close. Mary A Winton was born in 1868 in Redfern. Her parents were Henry and Ann Winton.
Was Mary A Winton my Matilda Armstrong?
Yes! After purchasing Mary A Winton's birth certificate, more certificates followed to piece together the story of Matilda's birth family and the possible reason for her name change. Henry Winton's death certificate was vital evidence naming his child as Matilda and not Mary!
- Henry Winton was born in about 1829 in Germany. He migrated to Australia in about 1857. In 1859, Henry married Ann Richards at Scots Church, York Street, Sydney. Ann was born about 1834 possibly in Devon or Cornwall, England. She migrated to Australia in about 1856.
- Henry and Ann lived in the inner city around Chippendale and had 5 children-
- Fanny (1859 to 1860),
- John Henry (1861 to 1933),
- William Henry (1862 to 1948),
- Annie (1865 to 1935) and
- Mary Alice - my Matilda Armstrong (1868 to 1937).
- Just six weeks after Matilda's birth, tragedy struck the Winton family when Ann died from complications after her pregnancy.
- There's no evidence that either Henry or Ann had any extended family in Sydney. Henry was left with 4 young children from 7 years to 6 weeks!
- Less than a year after Ann died, Henry married Maria Wheeler. Maria had a six year old daughter, Mary. Is this when Mary Alice Winton became Matilda Winton?
- Henry and Maria had one son, Charles, in 1873. He died in 1893, aged 19.
- In 1895, Henry Winton had a heart attack and died in his cart on the corner of Market and Kent Streets, Sydney. Maria died in 1911.
Henry Winton and Ann Richards are now my most elusive ancestors
Here are the links to earlier stories about Matilda and John Henry-
Eighty years after the death of Matilda Lutge (nee Winton)
John Henry Lutge (1866 to 1929) - The first child of Peter Benson Lutge and Mary Bonner
John Henry Lutge - The Mosman Poundkeeper
This post has been written as part of a challenge for a blogging group I've joined. As part of this challenge, I've written about Mum's maternal grandmother HERE. Unlike Matilda, Ma Webb was very much part of our lives.
