Most Wanted

Sam "Tyson" Royes appeared before the Sydney Court of Petty Sessions on 20th October 1831 and pleaded guilty to stealing 11/1 (11 shillings 1 pence - A$1.11) from his employer, for which he received three months imprisonment. He had references dated August 1829 both of which describe him as "visiting" Australia to make his fortune. His father is described as an eminent London businessman. I have assumed that Sam Tyson Royes is our Samuel Tyssen Royes and that his eminent father is our Solomon Royes, goldsmith. I think we can assume that Sam arrived in the latter half of 1829 looking for work. Did he stay after his imprisonment or ...?

James Roy is the father of James (c1850-1917), John (c1854-1909) and Thomas (1864-1889). James junior was born in Co Fermanagh, Ireland.
We have two possibilities for James senior. Both records indicate that he was a constable so we assume that it is the same person.
The Constabulary records list the date of appointment as 19 Jul 1837, aged "22". Year of birth (in Co Antrim) is therefore about 1815. He was therefore 35 when he married and 49 when son Thomas was born.
There are two different marriage dates in 1850 but that is probably because one (5 Apr) was registered "on the quiet" since constables were not allowed to marry (and possibly because the bride was pregnant?) Their respective ages are listed as "22" but that is merely "code" for over 21. The other marriage (20 Dec) was celebrated once he had left the Constabulary (18 Dec)
The April Civil marriage records identifies the wife as Catherine Thompson and their respective fathers were both James and farmers.
So now we have James I, II and III(!).
We can probably assume that James I was a farmer in County Antrim since that is where James II was born.
All three James are a bit of a mystery. We know nothing about James I, what we know about James II is given above, and we know very little about James III's family - were there any grandchildren?
(We also know nothing about Catherine Thompson.)

Matilda (Horan) Royes's Birthday Book includes Mona F.C. Royes born 26 Feb 1907. But who is she? Is Royes her married name? If so, who did she marry?

Can be Sylvestor and Prior
The Pryors migrated from Somerset, England to Rockhampton, Queensland. Their daughter Mary married Edward Hougham Royes (jr) on 18 July 1870. We would like to know some more about the Pryors - their background in Somerset, their life in Central Queensland.

This entry needs updating but the search for information about the Luthers and Dunns remains.
The Dunns and Luthers are the "forgotten Royes" in the story of Australian Royes - Maria Royes (sister of Edward Hougham Royes and who migrated with him and sister Emily) married Frederick Christian Luther in 1842. Their daughter Anna Maria Hougham Luther married Charles Dunn in 1869.

Looking for possible links from The Oaks, NSW, cemetery records (some of these have been answered and are so marked ?:

Henry Dunn, born Hull, Yorkshire abt 1804, died 30 Dec 1877 aged 73 [? Henry William Dunn]
[This is the Henry Dunn, age 38, convict, granted permission to marry Jane Piper, immigrant, age 36, on 19 Mar 1842]
Henry's wife: Jane born abt 1808, died 20 Jan 1865 aged 57 [? Jane Piper formerly Shoebridge]
Mary Dunn Piper born abt 1837 died 5 Jul 1852 aged 15 (where does "Piper" come from? - ? her mother's first marriage)
Henry's wife: Serena born abt 1832 died 26 Jun 1918 [Some trees list her as wife of Henry snr but is this Henry jr?]

John Dunn of "Sunnyside" born abt 1833 died 17 Feb 1916 aged 83
John's wife Jane born abt 1846 died 25 Jan 1865 aged 19

There is also a Henry and Annie L. Dunn who had a son:
William Adair Dunn b 20 Dec 1872 d 23 Dec 1882

And a George Lambert Dunn b abt 1887 d 2 Feb 1965 aged 77
whose wife was Elizabeth b abt 1869 d 25 Aug 1950 aged 81

Paul Robinson (contact me for his email address) is looking to connect his ancestors into the William Cameron line on this site: In late 1891 my GGGrandfather, Allan MacDiarmid (born 1817 Loch Etive, Argyll) travelled from Sydney with his family to Armidale NSW to visit his 'kinsman' John Cameron at "Morven". While in Armidale Allan died on 7/11/1891. Allan's mother was Janet Cameron and she married Duncan MacDiarmid in Stronlain, Arnamurchan,, Scotland in 1809. I have now established for certain that the John Cameron, Allan MacDiarmid visited was the John Cameron (born 1836 Garmony Mull, died 1915 'Morven' Armidale) in your family tree. His grandfather was William Cameron born about 1788 Forosay-Glen Argyll. I estimate that Janet Cameron (Allan's mother)would have been born about 1780, but I don't know where. It is possible that Janet and William Cameron were sister and brother and thus Allan MacDiarmid and John Cameron were first cousins (once removed). I would be grateful for any information you may have or any research that you could suggest that would establish if Janet and William Cameron were related.

Dr Walter Battershell Gill was an Entomologist who was tutored by Brian Bouchard's g g grandfather, the late Peter Bouchard, who died on expedition to Santa Marta in 1865. Dr Gill came into possession of Bouchard's Collecting Diary and retained it until at least 1874. Battershell Gill's own collection of specimens was sold off in April 1886 but the Diary was not listed. References to it in The Entomolgist continued until 1897 but I have failed to establish whether or not it survived and, if so, the present location. As a long shot, could it have been retained by a member of the family? Contact through "Tell us what you know" will be forwarded to Brian.

Huguenots , notably French (and French-speaking Walloons) and Dutch, escaped religious persecution by fleeing to England in the period 1550-1750. (Go to http://sag.org.au select "Our Research Guides" in the left margin then select "Huguenots" for a succinct explanation.) Canterbury (where John Royes married Sarah Hougham) had the largest concentration of Huguenots outside London and where they established a silk-weaving centre. (There was a similar centre at Spitalfields in London's East End). John Royes was a silk weaver! And one possible origin for the name "Royes" is French. There is still a French Protestant Church worshipping in the Canterbury Cathedral crypt (the Black Prince's chantry) at 3 p.m. each Sunday. Add to all that the fact that Solomon Royes retired to the Channel Islands. The Channel Islands were places to which French Huguenots fled, and from where many Huguenots moved to England. However...
1. Royes could be an English name, a variation of Royce, though there are early records with "de royes" which suggests a French origin
2. Royes is a common Spanish name. (Royes frequency per thous [USA 0.83 (Oregon 6.12), Argentina 0.4]. The highest Spanish occurrences are in two provinces adjoining southern France.

Where was the film made? Presumably Australia. But where in Australia it was made might give us a clue as to where Billy Royes might come from.

This newspaper clipping names her in a car accident in Port Road, Alberton, Adelaide, South Australia. We have no wife named Adeline in our records.

This is not a mystery photo - we know who it is. Paintings of John East Dix and Isabella Hookham, each measuring 24x20 inches or 610x510 mm, are being offered for sale by Hal Dick in Washington D.C., who is down-sizing. John East Dix's photo is shown here and you can see Isabella's here. Contact the site administrator for Hal's details.

We know who the painting is of - Sarah (Robinson) Hougham - but who painted it? Contact Mike Raisbeck