de Mouilpieds in Australia by Elizabeth Crawford

The Australian Connection.

Hello, my name is Elizabeth. I am a descendant of John de Mouilpied, son of Nicolas de Mouilpied and Rachel Martin who emigrated from Guernsey to Australia in 1853.

My husband and I recently visited Guernsey (we emigrated from Australia to the UK nearly 25 years ago) with a view to searching my family history. We also had a very enjoyable holiday. We established that Nicolas de Mouilpied, Rachel Martin and family were at ‘Les Pelleys, Catel’ on the 1841,1851 and 1861 census. Nicolas (son) left for America between 1841 and 1851. Jean (my GG grandfather) left for Australia in 1853. We had the Greff do a land search on ‘Les Pelleys’ and ‘de Mouilpied’. There are two properties in the Catel Parish. The property Nicolas and Rachel de Mouilpied were on was originally ‘Les Pelleys, Rue du Torval’ but from 1948 known as ‘Les Pelleys de Bas’

A very helpful lady at the Priaulx Library directed me to a book titled ‘Guernsey Emigrants to Australia 1828 – 1899’ by David W. Kreckeler. I found the two entries for de Mouilpied detailed below: -

De Mouilpied – Tullock Castle – Melbourne – 1852

Nicholas, 22, carpenter.

Birth. Guernsey. St Peter Port church register. Nicholas de Mouilpied and of Susanne Vidamour his wife, born on the 27^th Dec, 1830.Census. Guernsey, 1851. de Mouilpied. 381. St Peter Port.

Drowned at sea. Guernsey Star, 7^th April, 1853. Drowned,- on the 13^th Oct last, Mr Godfrey, second mate on board the Tullock Castle, on passage from London to Australia, near the Cape of Good Hope. Also, a week after, Nicholas, son of Mr Nicholas de Mouilpied, of this island, aged 22 years.

De Mouilpied – Koning Wilem II – Melbourne – 1853. John, 20

Birth. John de Mouilpied, son of Nicholas de Mouilpied and of Rachel Martin his wife, born on the 26^th March, 1822.(Note. John de Mouilpied is twin brother of Thomas)

Census. Guernsey. 1851. de Mouilpied. 255. Catel.

Death. Australia. Guernsey News, 14^th May, 1886. Died. – on the 15^th Jan, at Minyip, Victoria, Australia. John, son of Nicholas de Mouilpied, formerly of Les Pelleys, Guernsey, aged 63 years and 9 months.


I am not sure where the first one fits in. Maybe someone else will recognize the line. The second is my Great Great Grandfather.

The following entry is from the following website: -http://www.geocities.com/mepnab/d/d8.html?200917?200928 which lists Australian Pioneer Families

De Mouilpied

John De Mouilpied came c 1860 with Emma Stirling, and lived at Geelong.

2 children

1. Henry William De Mouilpied c 1858
2. John De Mouilpied 1861 #2859 lived 17 days

Henry William De Mouilpied c1858 wed #3571 to Mary Jane Bennett from South Australia, and lived at Nhill, then Yanac
3 children

1. Henry John De Mouilpied 1887 #30676
2. Mary Elizth De Mouilpied 1896 #24581
3. Gina May De Mouilpied 1899 #14840

I am concluding at this stage that John arrived in Australia as a single man as there is no entry for Emma Stirling in ‘Guernsey Emigrants to Australia 1828 – 1899’. It looks like John met and married Emma Stirling within a few years of arriving in Australia in 1853.

In the entry on Debby’s blog for May 4, 2009 Dianne Lockett mentions 6 children for Henry William de Mouilpied. I have been ‘trawling’ the Victorian Births, deaths and marriages online (website:- https://online.justice.vic.gov.au/bdm/home) and found that Henry William had at least 9 children. I also found 2 more children for John and Emma.

My trawling revealed the following: -

Jean (John) de Mouilpied b.1822 (Guernsey) d.1886 (Minyip)

m. Emma Stirling b. 1835? d.1920 (Warracknabeal)

Lived in Geelong, 1860. 4 children

1. Henry William de Mouilpied b.1859 (Geelong)

m. 1886 Mary Jane Bennett b. 1869 Lived at Nhill

2. John de Mouilpied b. 1861 (Geelong) lived 17 days
3. John Thomas de Mouilpied b. 1875 d. 1959

m. Daisy Hill b. 1885 d. 1959

4. Mary Emma de Mouilpied b. 1877

m. 1905 George Alex Newell.

NB: - The entries for John Thomas and Mary Emma record their parents as John de Mouilpied and Emma Starling.

Henry William de Mouilpied b.1859 (Geelong)

m. 1886 Mary Jane Bennett b.1869

Lived at Nhill. 9 children

1. Henry John de Mouilpied b.1887 d. 1952

m. (1916) Eva Olive Harris

2. William George de Mouilpied b. 1890 d. 1957
3. Albert Thomas de Mouilpied b. 1892 d. 1972

m. 1919 Ruby Alma Zerbst d. 1971

4. Mary Elizabeth de Mouilpied b. 1896 Yanac

m. 1917 Reg Albert Kohn

5. Arthur de Mouilpied b. 1896 d. 1924 Nhill
6. Gina May de Mouilpied b. 1899 Yanac

m. 1918 Frederick David Olney

7. Ida de Mouilpied b. 1901 Yanac
8. Hugh de Mouilpied b. 1903 Yanac d. 1942

m. 1928 Ethel Eva Iris Hutchings b. 1912 d. 1935

m. 1938 Mary Catherine Short

9. Annie de Mouilpied b. 1906

Henry John de Mouilpied and Eva Olive Harris had twin boys who died within a couple of days and 4 girls. My mother is the youngest daughter.
I would love to hear from anyone else from this line. Please contact me on elizabethcrawford333@googlemail.com