It’s been challenging to find any record of the death of my 4x great-grandmother, Cecilia Carruthers nee Andrews. What happened to her is a mystery, and it’s my belief that she died in circumstances which meant no record was actually made.

Cecilia was born in 1814 in the far north-west of England, to John Andrews a cotton manufacturer, and his wife Elizabeth Mollison. She was baptised in Bowness-on-Solway, and married William Carruthers in Torpenhow in 1838. Their son John was born soon after, and the family of three emigrated to New South Wales in 1840.

A second son named Joseph was born in Sydney in 1841, and then the family moved south to the region around what is now known Crookwell. Two more children were born there: Mary in 1843 and Sarah in 1847. Sarah is my 3x great-grandmother.

Cecilia’s youngest child was born in 1847, which is the earliest she would have died. Son Joseph’s obituary mentions his mother died when he was nine-years-old, which would be around 1850.

There’s no death record for an adult named Cecilia Carruthers, or anyone with a similar name, in New South Wales for the period 1840 to 1900. There’s also nothing in cemetery records, nor in records of deaths in Victoria or Queensland. I’ve even checked English records in case she returned there, but found nothing.

The area where the Carruthers family were living was quite isolated. It was a goldrush at Tuena in the early 1850s that brought more people to the region, and that was when Binda, Crookwell and several other towns developed.

It’s quite possible Cecilia died, and was buried somewhere in the bush, with no record ever being made. It was certainly before official New South Wales birth, death and marriage records were created, and a long way from a church which would be the only other source of a record.

In what is also rather interesting timing, newspapers in 1850 reported one William Carruthers as being involved in horse stealing. He was arrested in February, but escaped from the Binda lock-up. Five years later it was reported William had been captured at Tuena Creek and remanded for the 1850 charge. Why it took so long to find him is anybody’s guess, but he clearly evaded the authorities for a long time. It was so long the circumstances of the evidence couldn’t be remembered well enough, and William was released!

Cecilia’s children were young when she died, and both of her daughters (pictured below) married very young and had lots of children of their own. Sarah had twelve and Mary had eighteen!

The four Carruthers children must have missed their mother, and each of them named a child after her. The grandchildren were Cecilia Moss born 1871 to Sarah Carruthers and her husband Thomas Moss, Cecilia Carruthers born 1872 to John Carruthers and his wife Margaret Shepherd, Cecilia Drain born 1872 to Mary Carruthers and her husband Robert Drain, and Cecilia Carruthers born 1882 to Joseph Carruthers and his wife Katherine Shepherd.

The last granddaughter named Cecilia died as a baby in 1882, the same year she was born. Some researchers have confused the two people, however records prove the 1882 death is definitely the baby, not her grandmother.

Clues in official records and newspapers all suggest that Cecilia Carruthers died sometime between 1847 and 1850. However, unless some new, personal record comes to light, which is highly unlikely, the mysterious death of Cecilia Carruthers will remain that, a mystery.

Selected references

Entitlement certificate entry for Cecilia Carruthers, Formosa, departing Liverpool, 26 March 1840, State Archives and Records Authority of New South Wales; Kingswood New South Wales, Australia; Persons on Bounty Ships (Agent’s Immigrant Lists); Series: 5316; Reel: 2134; Item: [4/4787], Ancestry.com, accessed 26 October 2024.

Birth registration of Joseph Carruthers, born 21 July 1841, Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, New South Wales, 2099/1841 V18412099 25A.

Birth registration of Mary Carruthers, born 11 December 1843, Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, New South Wales, 2028/1843 V18432028 28.

Birth registration of Sarah Carruthers, born 17 June 1847, Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, New South Wales, 1784/1847 V18471784 33A.

‘Mr. Joseph Carruthers’, Crookwell Gazette, 26 September 1923, p. 3, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article221285889, accessed 26 October 2024.

‘Police Intelligence’, The Goulburn Herald, 16 Feb 1850, p. 4,
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article101730885, accessed 25 October 2024.

‘Negligent Escape’, The Goulburn Herald, 16 Feb 1850, p. 4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article101730877, accessed 25 October 2024.

‘Binda’, The Goulburn Herald, 9 Mar 1850, p. 6, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article101728318, accessed 25 October 2024.

‘Friday, 22 March’, The Goulburn Herald, 23 Mar 1850, p. 5, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article101729030, accessed 25 October 2024.

‘Goulburn Quarter Sessions’, The Goulburn Herald, 26 Mar 1850, p. 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12916693, accessed 25 October 2024.

‘Horse Stealing’, The Goulburn Herald, 18 August 1855, p. 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article118311256, accessed 26 October 2024.

‘Horse Stealing’, The Goulburn Herald, 1 September 1855, p. 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article118312370, accessed 26 October 2024.

‘Friday, September 7. Before the Police Magistrate and F. Oakes, Esq., J.P.’, The Goulburn Herald, 8 September 1855, p. 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article118311190, accessed 26 October 2024.

NSW Government Environment and Heritage, ‘Regional Histories of New South Wales’, https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/research-and-publications/publications-search/regional-histories-of-new-south-wales, accessed 27 October 2024.