Migration and descendants of John Ball:                                                     Family History    Ball Family History   

1.      Descendants of Robert Ball                                                                                                                   Canada

2.      Descendants of Ethan Ball:  Edward (Kerry Slack), Edwin (Ian Ball) and Henry Ball                       Australia

3.      Descendants of  Edwin Ball and Edgar Ball  (Ted Ball)                                                                        Canada

4.      Descendants of Bessie Ball  see Nichols and  William Panter                                                             Australia

5.      Family History of Rosemary Tall  see Nichols and Tall Family Trees                                                USA

Seven descendants of John Ball, son of Christopher, of Little Petherick definitely emigrated; four to Australia   (Edward, Edwin and Henry Ball and Margaret Nichols), two to Canada (Robert and Edwin Ball) and one (Rosemary Tall) to the USA..

The initial strands of these histories invariably overlap, because they begin with the research and memories of their descendants.  The writing of the families is theirs.  If you wish to contact them e-mail grahamtall@yahoo.com and I will forward your message to them.

1.      Family History of Beth Speicher  see Robert Ball    Migrated to Canada

Robert petitioned for a land grant in the Brockville, Ontario area in March, 183l, as a retired seaman   Military record  His petition states that he landed at Quebec on the 12th.of June 1830. He received a land grant of 100 acres in the Township of Elizabethtown, County of Leeds, Ontario.

Robert is shown on the 1839, 1840 and 1842 census in Elizabethtown. He had married his wife Jennifer, the daughter of Richard Stephens and Jane Mullies of St. Enoder, Cornwall, England in St. Enoder 26 Nov. 1828.  Robert's son, Edward Atkinson, was  born on 5 Aug 1830 in Ampleforth, Yorkshire, England, the son of Mary Ann Atkinson, a single woman!   It is not known whether Jennifer stayed in England or moved to Canada; but  Robert married Mary Ann Atkinson on 11 July 1834 by the Reverend William Smart of the Presbyterian Church of Elizabethtown.  Reverend Smart also re-baptised Edward (as Edward Ball) and  baptised Jane on April 17, 1836.   Jane having been born on Sept. 2, 1834. The other seven of Robert’s children - George, Joseph, Anne, Robert, Caroline, Mary Ann and William Thomas were born in Elizabethtown between 1836 and 1849.

Robert’s occupation is shown as a miller. On the 1851 census he and his family are in Fitzroy Township in Carleton County. Anglican Church records show his death in Pakenham, Lanark County on the 26th. Aug. 1859. He is buried in St. Mark’s Cemetery in Pakenham, where there is a stone erected. 

2.    Family History of Ian Ball       (G⁶F Christopher, G⁵F John, G⁴F John, G³F Ethan, 
                                                                      G²F Edwin, G¹F Ernest, F Horace Ball)

 John Ball (1716-64)  Little Petherick

Ian’s G⁵Father was an important individual in the parish of Little Petherick.  He was the Church warden for a number of years (an annual post).  John married Anne Clemoes in 1749 in St. Ervan and raised ten children.  Two of their sons (Christopher and Jonathan) became yeomen, renting and farming land.

 John Ball (1761-1820)  St. Columb Major & others

All that is known of John, Ian’s G4Father (1761-1820), is that obtained from parish records.  John and his wife Jennifer nee Hicks, had twelve children, Ethan, Ian’s G3Father, was the eleventh and was born in 1808 in Little Petherick. John was born and died aged 59 in Little Petherick. John and Jennifer were married in St. Ervan in 1785.  When Ethan was christened in 1808 the couple were living in their sixth parish (St. Columb Major) and John was 49 and Jennifer 44.  Their last child Elizear Ball was christened in a seventh parish.  Such mobility is unusual to say the least.  It almost certainly confirms that John was not only an agricultural laborer but had ‘itchy’feet.

  Ethan Ball  (1808-1880)  Little Column (St. Columb Minor) & Newlyn East

Ethan G³Father married Agnes Carne in 1826 at St. Columb Minor.  Parish and census records indicate that although, he sometimes classified himself as a laborer his work is more often described as that of a farmer or husbandman (a smallholder or tenant farmer, someone below the status of a yeoman). Agnes’ family had lived at St. Columb for many years and members of her family were parish clerks there for over 100 years.  The wife’s family name of Carne is remembered in several of the children of this marriage and also in subsequent generations.

            1826 - Husbandman - Churchtown

1829 -1833 Husbandman - Penh allow

1834 - 1838 Laborer - Penh allow

1840 - Husbandman - Penh allow

1841 - Agricultural Laborer - Penh allow

1843 - Farmer - Higher Perth

1850 - Laborer – Penh allow

Unlike his father Ethan's eleven children were christened in the same parish (St. Columb Minor).  It appears that they moved out of the parish before the 1851 census, because the family is listed at New Inn, Church Street, Newlyn East.  Listed were Ethan 42 Innkeeper, Agnes 48, Jane 23, Mary 20, Ethan 18 (Farm labourer, but who later became an innkeeper at Hayle), Edward 15, Agnes 13, Edwin 11, Ann Marie 8, Samuel 6, Henry 4.

In the 1861 Census  (1579/3-45-44) the family are shown as living at Fore Street in parish of Redruth, Innkeeper Ethan age 53 b. St. Columb, Agnes shown as aged 57. Also present were Agnes 23, b St. Columb, Ann 18 born at St.  Columb, Henry 15 farm laborer b. St.  Columb.  The family’s increased status is evidenced by the fact that Fanny Jenkins is shown as a domestic servant.

In the 1871 Census, Ethan Ball age 60, is described as a retired farmer b. Mawgan.

  Edwin Ball  (1840-1911)  Cornwall, emigrated to Australia

Edwin, Ian’s G²Father married Mary Yeoman (b. 1842, Par, Cornwall) in 1861 at St. Blazey.  However, within 5 years and after the birth of their first four children (Barrington Britton, Oscar Garland, Agnes Carne, and Kate Colliver), the couple emigrated to Australia.  Edwin’s brother, Henry (1850), emigrated to NSW.

Edwin and his family sailed from Liverpool on 27 September 1866  and landed in Melbourne in  December.  They travelled on the “Royal Standard”, a 2033 ton auxiliary, iron, screw steam ship, under the command of Capt. Dorvell.  The ship was built in Newcastle UK.  An engraving of this ship appears in the Multimedia catalogue of the State Library of Victoria (http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/pictoria/b/4/8/doc/b48935.htm).  The ship sailed under the White Star flag and thus was one of her last trips to Australia, as the decline in the Australian emigrant traffic had occurred.  Edwin was a blacksmith and set himself up in Linton, Victoria.  The nearby Linton Park was a large land holding established by Joseph and Mary Linton who came to the area from Paisley in Scotland in 1839.  They farmed sheep and cattle.  Gold was discovered in this area around 1855 and Linton was transformed into a busy centre on the road from the port of Geelong, and later connected to the Ballarat gold fields.  Cobb and Co. operated coaches which stopped at Linton and no doubt often needed the services of blacksmiths.  There is some evidence that Edwin worked in the blacksmith shop started by his wife’s uncle: James Garland Colliver who had settled in Linton and was also listed as a wheelwright in the municipal guide.

The photograph below (courtesy of the Linton Historical Society) shows the Colliver’s workshop which can be seen with the title of Machinist.  The workshop was located in the main street on the west side of Sussex Street opposite Pioneer Memorial.  The photograph was probably taken before 1902.  The premises were taken over by Edwin’s sons after James Colliver moved to Donald in northern Victoria.

Edwin developed his skills so much that he  “gained interstate reputation in making farming implements” according to Bennett, H. P. (1939) in his brief historical review on the settlement and development of Linton and District: Looking back over 100 years: 1839-1939, (p.9).

Edwin was president of Grenville Shire: 1885 – 1886 and his photo was taken around that time.  He died of heart failure and is buried in the Linton cemetery.  Edwin ‘s descendants were still living in Linton in 1939.  Two of Edwin’s son’s also worked as blacksmiths.  Barney (Barrington Britton Ball 1862-1894) who sadly died as the result of a head injury, and Oscar Garland Ball.  Oscar ran and later owned the blacksmith’s shop and was a foundation member of the Old Lintonian’s Association formed in 1913 and became President 1923-4.

Ernest, Ian’s GFather,  was born shortly after arrival in 1867 at Hotham (a borough of Melbourne West).  His younger brother,  Sidney  Yeoman, was born in 1870 in Linton so the family must have moved there between 1868 and 1870.  

Ernest Alfred Ball, (1867-1946),  Linton and Melbourne, Australia 

Ernest, Ian’s grandfather was born at Capel Street, Hotham in North Melbourne on 18 November 1867.  He married Fanny Louisa Aust by licence on 28th March 1894 at the Primitive Methodist Church at North Carlton.  At that time Ernest lived in Linton and was aged 26, Fanny lived in North Carlton and was aged 25.  They raised five children: Gladys Muriel (b. 1895 Linton), Horace Percy Britton (b 1898, Linton), Bernice Ella (b. 1901, Linton), Hazel May (b.1904, Linton) and Mavis Alma (b. 1906, Linton). Fanny  (b 1868 in Newtown, Scarsdale, Victoria) was the daughter of Elijah Aust and Emma Hale, who migrated to Australia shortly after their marriage from Colerne in Wiltshire in 1853. Known as “Da” to his children and grandchildren, Ernest worked as a wheelwright in his father’s blacksmith shop. Ernest and Oscar are both listed as foundation members of the first Linton Volunteer Fire Brigade formed in 1885, the year a fire station was built.  He was carpenter later in his life and built several houses in the Linton district.  After Dan Cornish died, he went to Linton (from Melbourne) and built Agnes a home next door to her daughter Myrtle.  Agnes had sold the boot shop and residence. After their marriage, Ernest and Fanny lived in Linton, second house up from the wheelwright’s business in Sussex Street (nearly opposite

the Post Office), until about 1921. Ernest’s profession was now recorded as a builder and carpenter.  He rode his bicycle everywhere, never having owned a car or other mode of transport. 

 In Linton he was lay preacher and traveled by bicycle to Smythesdale, Happy Valley, Russell’s Creek, Snake Valley, Newtown and Italian Gully to preach in the Methodist churches.  He was a teetotaler.

 The Ball family moved to 8 Randolph Street Hawthorn in the 1920’s.  Ian can remember the wisteria that grew there on the front verandah, an old clock on the mantelpiece in the family room, and in the backyard some orchid cactus plants that flowered at night, and an old stone wheel for sharpening tools.  Ian has a photograph taken at Ernest and Fanny’s Golden wedding celebrations.  Ian believed the family walked to the city to Wesley Church in Lonsdale Street, Melbourne every Sunday for services and Pleasant Sunday Afternoons.  He can also remember going to “Back to Linton” days in the Botantical Gardens, and also went back to Linton for a reunion with his mother and father.

Ernest was President of the Old Lintonian’s Association 1928-29.  He became a Steward of Wesley Church in Lonsdale Street, Melbourne.

 Ernest is buried in Section 8 Methodist at Burwood Cemetery: Inscription: “In loved memory of Ernest Alfred Ball d. 16 Oct 1946 78 yrs - a loved husband and father”.

Ernest’s eldest daughter, Gladys Muriel Ball, known as Lally, did her nursing training at Wangaratta and completed a three-year course on 29 Feb 1916.  She later became a nursing sister at Warrnambool Base Hospital and nursed many private patients at home.  After nursing a Mrs. McLean, Gladys was offered a post at “Wangoom Park” near Warrnambool owned by Alex McLean.  She was employed as a nurse and housekeeper.  She looked after Mr. McLean until his death in 1955 at 90 years of age (her approximate length of service was 21 years).  Returning to Melbourne she boarded with Hazel and Harry (10 Lodge Road, Hartwell) , and later with Mavis and Fred (in an conversion built by Horace) (67 Ashburton Road, Glen Iris).

 Aunty Lally, as she was known to Ian, was a very alert individual and took a great interest in politics often listening to parliamentary broadcasts.  She gave Ian a copy of the complete works of Shakespeare.  With an inheritance from her will, Ian and Margaret bought a red wood fire screen, and subsequently, Margaret wove a tapestry depicting an English farm scene, which has been fitted into the fire screen.

Horace Percy Britton Ball (1898-1969) Linton and Melbourne, Australia 

Horace  (Ian’s father) and Elsie née Taylor married in 1921 and had three children.  They lived in the Hawthorn and Kew areas all their lives, finally residing at 41 Park Crescent, Kew for many years.  Horace first worked on the railways, and then did his apprenticeship at the Wheelwrights in Linton as a carpenter under the eye of his father Ernest.  Together they built several homes in the Linton area.  After moving to Melbourne, he continued in the building trade. Known as Horrie to his friends and Pa to his children and grandchildren, he worked for many years with Werner’s Refrigeration in Abbotsford.  He built many of the large wooden, insulated doors for butcher’s shops and other sites.  He took a great pride in his woodworking skills and even built a large boat in his workshop at Park Crescent.  This eventually went to the Murray River area and was used for fishing.  He made many friends through his fishing interests and was a member of the Richmond Angling Club for many years.  He made particular friends with the Russell family and spent many days catching Murray cod near Barooga.  Ian can remember a fishing trip with Uncle Fred down to Little River where they traveled in Uncle Fred’s car.  He remembers it had running boards at the side of the car but can’t remember the make.

Later Horace worked in Heidelberg in furniture construction and built Margaret and Ian their bed.  He also built the garage for Margaret and Ian.

 Horace was member of the Masonic Lodge, he died at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Fitzroy.

Ian Linton Ball (1933-)  Melbourne Australia

As can be seen the name Linton has been long recognised within the family.  The association has been carried on to Ian’s son David Linton.  David subsequently named one of his twin boys Linton, and the Linton name was also carried on to Roslyn’s son Benjamin Linton.

Ian married Margaret (b 1932) in 1958 and they have three children: Julie Margaret, David Linton and Roslyn Anne.  All the children have married and have children.

Ian was educated at East Kew Central School, and went to University High School on a scholarship.  Ian decided to become a teacher and attended the Toorak Teachers’ College and completed a primary teaching qualification.  His first appointments were in one-teacher rural schools in Gippsland, but he then taught at some schools in Melbourne.  In 1965 he joined the staff at Burwood Teachers’ College and later the Coburg Teachers’ College and finally the Monash Teachers’ College as Head of Psychology.  This institution underwent a number of changes and eventually amalgamated with Deakin University.  Ian meanwhile became an Associate Professor and later Head of School and Professor of Teaching and Developmental Studies.  He retired from full time work at the end of 1996, and since that time has done consultancy work and been Manager of the Psychological Type Research Unit at Deakin University.  His work has been recognised in many ways: becoming a Faculty Fellow at Deakin University, a Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society, a Chartered Member of the Australian Institute of Human Resource Management, and a Life Member of the Australian Association for Psychological Type.

Ian’s interests include family history, gardening, attending orchestral concerts and opera and ballet performances, and nurturing his grandchildren.

2b    Family History of Kerry Slack see Edward Ball

Like Ian Ball’s line, Kerry's  line comes from Ethan Ball. Kerry's direct Australian ancestor being Ethan’s son, Edward Ball.

Interestingly we have two anomalous dates for Edward’s birth/christening which are .

The Christening record reported in the IGI is for an Edward Baul, 30th November 1834, son of Eathan and Agnes Baul, at St Columb Minor.

The source of the birth date of 21 of June 1836 is thought to be his tombstone.

However, the 1841 census demonstrates that the Christening date is likely to be accurate.

Interestingly the details of Ethan Ball's family were given in an intestacy letter on one of Margaret Agnes Ball of Kempsey, New South Wales, on the Macleay River who died on the 12th August 1863.  The letter refers to an Agnes Ball, whose father was named Henry and whose grandparents were Ethan Ball and Agnes Carne.  Edward, Kerry’s ancestor and Edwin, Ian Ball’s ancestor, are both listed in the letter. This means that at least three of Ethan and Agnes’s sons migrated to Australia.

Edward’s tombstone confirms him being a “native of Cornwall”. Family memory also reports that Edward was a “cabin boy” and of him arriving in the 1850’s (1857?).

Confirmation that Kerry’s ancestor Edward is the son of Ethan Ball is complicated by a fascinating document, that Kerry and her husband found headed “School Prank led to Australia Landing”. The problem with the document is that the information on his father and Edward's own schooling must be wrong.

The reference to William Gaddes friend being the Founder of the Ball family on Macleay River, is strongly, indicative, that Ned is Kerry Slack's ancestor, as is the fact, that in 1851, Edward was living at Newlyn, Cornwall (see 1851 census below the document.  Did Newlyn become Newcastle in family memory???      Note, No William Gaddes was found at Newlyn indeed the only William Gaddes, of about the right age

Edward Ball’s Life in Australia Family rumour supports the essence of William Gaddes document that Edward was a crew man on a ship before embarking at Australia and maybe even that he went to the Victorian goldfields to make his money.

What is certain, is that Edward married Ann Dornan (daughter of Charles and Catherine (nee Laverty)) on the 5th of September 1860 and lived at Fredericton, Macleay rive, New South Wales.

Edward and Ann Ball had eight children, Agnes (1861), Catherine (1863-65), Charles (1866), Annie Maria 1866), Eliza (1870), Amy (1873), Albert (1875-75) and Henry Parnell (1877).

Sadly, shortly after Henry was born, Edward was gored by a Friesian bull. The bull was consequently shot.  Fortunately a newspaper report provides useful detail on the accident and essential background on Edward’s life in Australia.

After the accident, Edward was put into a boat and taken up river to the hospital, it is believed that he eventually asked to be put ashore as he wanted to die on dry land. On his grave it states his age at the time of death being 41 years old and a native of Cornwall.  Edward Ball died on 19 Dec 1877.

After Edward Ball was killed Ann Ball (nee Dornan) continued to select and buy property. She appears to have been a very good business woman. Her son, Henry Parnell took over running the property when he was just 14 years old.  Ann Ball died at Longreach Macleay River NSW on14. December 1921 of a heart attack, she was 79 years old, she was buried in Frederickton Cemetery on 16.12.1921.

Henry Parnell Ball

Henry married Eva May McKay in 1900 when he was 23 years old. The couple had five children: Una (1900), Ivy (1903), Ethel (1905), Hilton (1918) and Henry Edward.

Henry was also very astute in his selection and business dealings.  He amassed quite a considerable landholding on his death and according to Kerry, when she was growing up, she lived with her parents on a property that was next door to the original holding that Edward and Ann Ball selected.  The original house is still extant.

If you wish to contact Kerry about her line send an email to kerry@christopherball.co.uk.

3.      Family History of Ted Ball  see Edwin Ball and Edgar Ball

4.      Family History of William Panter  see William Panter and Ted Panter

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