collecting history

OK, this is a little long winded….bare with me…

Pierre LE POIDEVIN was born in 1801 (approx.) in France.
He was transported to Sydney on 28 September 1835 from England.  (he dropped the ‘Le’ and just went by Pierre Poidevin)
He was convicted at the Royal Court in Guernsey on the 13th December, 1834 for base coin forgery and sentenced for seven years transportation to the colony of NSW. (for those that don’t know, Australia started out as a penal colony and all the riff-raff started out here) Pierre was a single man, a cabinet maker and he could read and write. He was also a Roman Catholic. His physical description was described as – 5 foot 4 inches tall, very dark complexion, dark brown hair, greenish eyes. Once he had served his time, he became licensee of the Old Collector Inn, in Collector NSW, until he died in his sixties

He was married to a lady named Rebecca, and they had 7 children, 5 sons and 2 daughters

One of their sons was Francis Poidevin
He married Catherine Turner and they went on to have 12 children, 7 girls and 5 boys

One of their daughters’ name was Beatrice May Poidevin
Beatrice married Henry Bryant, and they produced 4 children, 3 daughters and 1 son

Their only son, Cecil Bryant, married a lady named Hazel
They went on to have 7 children – 5 boys, 2 girls

One of THEIR sons went to the town of Collector today
(You might recognise him)

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And visited this quaint place, full of landmarks named for the Poidevin family

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The pub’s still there

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The general store’s still there

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Today, we got to visit a place where part of our family started
Dad’s Great-great Grandfather, Pierre Le Poidevin, started out as a criminal
And seems like he turned out just fine
I’m grateful for that!

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There’s SO much more to the story, with new stuff we’re learning all the time
We always wondered just where us ‘Bloody Wilsons’ came from
Now we know
We’re from FRENCH ancestry, ooh la fucking la!

For today, it was pretty incredible to stand in that town, visit our ancestors graves

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And be proud of where we came from

Wonder if they’d be proud of us?
Don’t answer that.

25 comments

  1. well his grand dad did own one then,
    i come from french roots aswel ( but not as nice as urs)
    kevin looked very forlawned (sorry for spelling ) and not b ing cheekie…….. its good to find out bout where u started from……….hope u and ur mum and dad r well…

    1. They are both great….we were trying our best to be ‘normal’ today and not smart arse-y, hence the photo. It’s OK though, by tonight’s show we were both back to our shithead selves!! x

  2. One of my ancestors was deported for stealing chickens. We had a family reunion a few years ago and his ancestors came over for it. They were richer than all the rest of us put together. Says it all really. (Must add they were really great people.)

  3. I’ve been waiting in the Channel Islands for 35 years and still not been deported to Australia! What am I doing wrong?

  4. Any relation to Sydney Poidevin? He was a Doctor in South Australia and author. Very funny man……he must be related to you!! From memory his father died when Sydney was young and he desperately wanted to become a doctor so his uncle paid the uni fees. Sydney was sent to war, came back and finished his degree. He has written four books that I know of, “Come in Doctor”, “Samurais and Circumcisions”, “Doctor in Heaven” and “The Lucky Doctor”.

  5. Thank you so much,!!! I have tears rolling down my cheeks . I really wish we could go back in time.

    I would have loved to had met my grandmother &her sisters & brothers but she had passed before i was born.
    But i know that my three girls & Grandchildren will cherris this history & hold it close to their hearts as i have over the years. love you heaps xx

  6. my name is susan catherine turner haha but no lation darl its fasanating where our roots lay i had a lady anne clair in my ansestry an i arnt no lady lmao its a good read so ill have to call him piere kevin bloody wilson from now on

  7. I come from French Heritage as well, a failed French tickler…apparently it had a small prick in it and voila I was conceived!!!!!

  8. How amazing. I’m from the Poidevin line myself. My great grandparents were Edna and Lindsay Poidevin up to Lovey Appolonia my grand father being Keith Poidevin. I’ve been to collector a few times with my whole Poidevin clan of cousins and aunties and uncles. Amazing to see how far our family tree spans out!

  9. Author of the books mentioned above was Dr. Leslie Oswald Sheridan Poidevin. He practiced in South Australia. His father was L.O.S. Poidevin the famous cricketer. My line is also Francis Richard Poidevin and Catherine Turner same as your branch of the family tree.

  10. Well hello there my 2nd cousin. I had been told that your Dad was my cousin and we were born in the same year. My grandmother Ada was Dennis’s grandmother Beatrice sister. My Dad Vernon was Cecil Bryants cousin and they were very close. My sister and I spent many school holidays with Auntie Beatrice and Auntie Agnes in Goulburn. Did you go to the old Lynwood Cafe in Collector as this was our Grandmothers family home and believe they were born there.

  11. My Great ( 7 generations ago was Pierre LE POIDEVIN ) my line is
    1. Peter
    2. Perry – died in WW1 aged 33
    3. Mona – his Daughter my Great Great Grandmother ( died when I was about 13 in 1983 )
    4. Her daughter ( my Grandmother Jean died in 2013 )
    5. My mother Jenny – still alive ( I’m her son )

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