Family Migration in the 1850s -
the Hedley - Peck - Minter party

July 2015

Helen Connell is an Australian descendant of Robert James Peck (1789-1848) and Sarah Minter (ca 1799 - 1874)
as well as of Michael Minter (1807-1864) and Eleanor Edmonds Jeffery (1821-1875).
Their story is documented in the the following beautifully illustrated pages.

Click on the following links to read the sections of the story - each will open in a new window or tab:

Preamble - family group emigration from England to Port Phillip, 1849-50

Why leave England?

Arrival of the ship Brothers in Port Phillip 1850

A medical family in the early European settlement of Gippsland - The Hedleys at Tarraville and Sale

Squatters - The Kings at Snake Ridge, Rosedale

Stock and station agent - James and Ada Peck at Sale

Another doctor arrives in Gippsland - Ffloyd Minter Peck, Anna Maria and Menie in Sale

Mount Moriac - The Minters choose a different direction

Looking Back Now

Click here to load the Appendices. There are 5 of them, listed below, and all five will all open together in a new window or tab:

1. Australia, And The Comparative Merits of Some Of Her Provinces - Extract of article from The Morning Post, 27 August, 1842

2. Stories told by John King

3. Letter from Anna Maria Peck nee Robertson to her mother describing the journey from Tarraville to Sale, dated 4th November 1858 - extracts

4. Life of Michael Minter (1807-1864) of Folkestone

5. The Hedley/ Peck/ Minter Emigrants - genealogy, two generations

Click here to load the whole document.

For their support and help with this research - sharing both ideas and material - I should like to thank Peck-Minter relatives Meryl Stanton, Tim Kendall, Stephanie Anderson and Patricia Selkirk. Paul Saban of the Rookery Medical Centre, Newmarket, Suffolk has contributed much to my understanding of the life and times of Robert James Peck, Ffloyd Minter Peck and Michael Minter in Newmarket in the first half of the nineteenth century. My thanks also to John Minter for inviting me to place this paper on his website, for his detailed editing and formatting expertise and sharing research on several individuals. My husband, Malcolm Skilbeck, has provided valuable comments on periodic drafts, and moral support at all times. Any errors and omissions in this text are my own responsibility.

Copyright Helen Connell 2015