Author note.

Please be aware that all efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the information reported in this page. Many painstaking hours of reseach have been had to put this page researching its contents. This section contains some of the documents, along with other family anecdotes used.

If you have read this far, please leave a comment on the blog page. We would love to hear from you.

Also, if you have any information that might help us with Elizabeth Horne theory, please send us an email.

Alternatively, please vistit the blog page.

Credit for the following goes to John Best. Without his dedication and hours of ancestry research this page would not have been possible. This is expecially true when considering the sad story of the Richards family, the lack of family recollections and how many of the records were lost or incorrectly documented. 

Hermann Reinhold Janetzki married his 2nd wife Francis Elizabeth Richards.

James Richards was born about 1838 in London before travelling to Australia. He married Jane (nee Heywood) in 1869. Jane was born in Adelaide. The marriage in 1831, has James being 12 years older than Jane. They lived for a time in Caulfield and then in Oakleigh, suburbs of Melbourne. James worked as a labourer. While living there James and Jane, had 7 children William (1871) John (1873 -1933, married 1893, had 2 children in 1894& 1896), Frances Elizabeth (1876), Mary Jane (1878), George (1881), Annie Matilda (1883 - died in infancy), Henry Walter (1884)

A series of unfortunate events, beginning in 1887 led to the Richards children losing all their family members and being orphined at a very young age. For ease of tracking I have included in bracets their relationship to the children.

James William Richards b:1838 (father) Worked as a laborer. Died at Swan St Railway Station in Richmond on 24th March, 1887, aged 46 years. He collapsed on the platform, and was rushed to hospital. The coroners report indicates that the cause of death was due to natural causes, caused by a combination of bronchopneumonia and heart disease.

Mary Ann McNamara (Grandmother) After her first marriage Mary Ann had presumably moved to Melbourne with John Peach. She accidentally fell into a fire on Christmas Eve, and was addmitted to the Alfred Hospital with severe burns - spending 3 months in hospital. She passed away on 25 March 1887 - one day after Janes Husband had died.

Image 1: St Pancras Station

Image 2: St Pancras Station

The surname Richards was first found in Yorkshire where they held a family seat at Hatfield being ancient Lords of the manor of Ricard or Rycard. Over on the Isle of Wight in Yaverland, a small branch of the family was found at one time. "An ancient mansion of the Russells here, subsequently of the Richards family, and now a farmhouse, is a good specimen of the Elizabethan style." 

Distinguished members of the family include William Richards, Captain and Vice Admiral of Kent; Ralph Richards, rector of Helmdon, Northamptonshire from 1641 to 1668; and his son, William Richards (1643-1705), an English clergyman and author; and John Richards (died 1694), English-born, colonial military officer, businessman, politician, and magistrate in America, best known for his participation in the Salem witch trials in 1692. John Richards (1669-1709), was a British Major-General.

Richard Heywood    married

married 5 Apr 1850 in

St John Church Adelaide. 

Possibly from England.

Many Ann McNamara (1835-1887) Londonderry, Northern Ireland

Mary Ann McNamara was of Irish decent, having arrived in Adelaide. She married Richard Heywood.  We know that this marriage did not last, and that Mary had John Peach as a partner (although they did not marry) and had 9 children together. John Peach was a recently released convict.

James McNamara

Not much was known of the Richards family, with much of the family history having been lost for many generations. My family did not have any further details other than they were from England. Although some unsolved events still exist, large parts of the Richards story has been pieced back together.

James William Richards and Jane Heywood married  15 Dec 1869 in Caulfield, Melbourne. They lived in Oakleigh and had 7 children.

Thier story is continued below.

William (1871)

John (1873 - 1933)

Frances Elizabeth (1876)

Mary Jane (1878)

George (1881)

Annie Matilda (1883 - died in infancy)

Henry Walter (1884)

John Richards (1769)   

married 28 Oct 1794 St Andrew Surrey

Sarah Dugard (1774)   widow of Farnham

Francis Day (1784)   

Sophia Smith (abt. 1787)

James Richards (1805-1887)   married

Born St Pancras, Middlesex

married 3 Feb, 1831 in

Westminster St, Marylebone, London.

worked as a carpenter

family lived in The Martyr, Middlesex, England.

Frances Sarah Day (1808-1888)

Born in London,

Christened - St Martin in the Fields, Westminster, London

Other siblings

Sophia (1807)

Amey (1809)

James (1811)

Eliza (1818)

Horne Hypothesis

The mother of the baby, we think is Elizabeth Victoria Horne, who would have been just 16 at the time of becoming a mother. If this is a correct identification, this would also mean that she had also died in 1887.

If you have any further information on Elizabeth Victoria Horne, or are a decendant, we are looking for some futher confirmation. Please contact us (see details below). 

William Richards (1871) the other son, had already fathered at daughter when he was just 14 years old. There was much confusion in researching this particular event, as I had thought that it was initially an error in the family tree. Looking at original documentation of records, it seems that some effort was also made to keep the family secret. No doubt it would have been difficult having a young child with now, no family members aside from a young William to be responsible for the upbringing.

Jane Heywood (1850-1891) 

Other Siblings

William Heywood (1852 died as a baby).

James William Richards (1838-1887)

The ship “Norwester” arrived in Port Phillip from New Zealand in January 1863. James Richards aged 25 aboard; Possible Navy and jumped ship in New Zealand.

Other siblings

George (1842)

Anne (1828)

James Richards (Grandfather) died on 17 November 1887 in London.

Frances Sarah day (Grandmother) died in March 1888 in London.

Jane Heywood (mother) Was a houswife, looking after her children.

4 Oct 1867 • Government Road, Scoresby

Was attacked with intent to rape, was heading to her (step) father’s home on Dandenong Creek, Scoresby????

She was likely to have been quite sickly in her 30s. As she suffered from TB, which is a disease characterised by a gradual wasting away of the body, as it gets progressively weaker.

died on 18 November 1891 in Prahran aged 37 years. She died of phthisis, which is otherwise known as pulmonary tuberculosis. The two names of 'Edw' and 'Peach' listed on the death certificate point to her mothers relationship to John Peach (who had died in 1875). There is no record of a marriage to John Peach, nor have we been able to find a divorce from her first marriage.

The death of their mother Jane would see all the children without any surviving adult family members. It is likely that the oldest daughter, Elizabeth aged 15, and also William assumed responsiblities for the family. Although they have have had support from other relatives, that we have not identified.

At this point (or some time later) Eliszabeth must have moved to the Janetzki Homestead near Jeparit to work as a maid. She was working on the farm of Hermann Janetzki and Ernstine Burger - who had 8 children together. Unfortunately Ernstine died in 1899. presumably Frances continued on with her helping on the farm and then in 1902 Elizabeth and Hermann married. They went on to have 6 more children. 

The 14 children were raised in the Janetzki homestead (pictured) what would late come do be inherited by their youngest daughter Evelyn, who married Reinhold Schorback.

 Married 

 Married 

 Married 

 Married 

 Married 

The Bankruptcy Act 1861

Notice of Sittings for Last Examinations

James Richards, late of No. 28 New North Street, Red Lion Square, in the county of Middlesex, Carpenter and Undertaker, and now a Prisoner for Debt in the Debtor’s Prison for London and Middlesex, having been adjudged bankrupt by a Registrar of the Court of Bankruptcy, in London, attending at the Prison aforesaid, on the 16^th day of November 1868, and the adjudication being directed to be prosecuted at the Court of Bankruptcy, in London, a public sitting, for the said bankrupt to pass his Last Examination, and make application for his Discharge, will be held before James Bacon, Esq., a Commissioner of the said Court, on the 29th day of January instant, at the said court, at Basinghall Street, in the city of London, at eleven o’clock in the forenoon precisely, the day last aforesaid being the day limited for the said bankrupt to surrender.  Mr George John Graham of No. 25, Coleman Street, London, is the Official Assignee, and Mr. Cox of No. 28, St. Swithin’s Lane, London, is the Solicitor acting in the Bankruptcy.