- Some links relating to members of the family of Robert Ernest Thwaites (1886-1946).
- The homepage of the Michael and Honor Thwaites Heritage Association, supporting the literary estate of poet and author Michael Rayner Thwaites and his wife Honor Mary Scott Thwaites.
- Collected Poetry of Michael Thwaites for online reading, with themed selection lists.
History
Robert “Ernest” Thwaites, a young schoolmaster, emigrated from Yorkshire to Australia in 1911 to take up a teaching post in Brisbane. His brother Francis had previously emigrated to the USA and his brother Jack emigrated to Canada around the same time. They were part of a flood of young British men seeking a better future than was offered to them in the England or Scotland of a century ago.
Ernest’s descendants are now into the fifth generation, contributing to Australian life in many different ways. Francis’ descendants in USA are also in their fifth generation. Jack’s family has many descendants in the western provinces of Canada.
An extensive family tree is available online and is updated from time to time as more ancestors are identified.
The online interactive trees work with a mouse and PC, but not with touch-screens. The way to find your way around is:
- Click on the tree and drag it around on the screen to bring more branches into view.
- Click on a name to bring up more information focussing on that individual.
- Click on the mannikin icon (
) beside a person’s name to display a tree showing that individual’s ancestors and descendants.
There are many threads to follow back in time to ancestors in England, Scotland and elsewhere. Ernest had first cousins in England (mainly Yorkshire) with family names Hardwick, Oak-Rhind, Brisby, Ward, Broadbent, and possibly Thwaites. The blog Forebear with Me traces some previous efforts to identify photographs handed down through various families, and to renew lost family connections. Comments, advice or information are welcome on this blog (it is updated only occasionally, with most later research being collected offline).
The name
Thwaites is not a rare name in Australia or England, but people still seem to have difficulty spelling or pronouncing it. “Tveit” is a Scandinavian word for a piece of land cleared for agriculture – a field. Spelled “thwaite” or in several other ways, the word is common in place names and family names in parts of northern England invaded and settled by the Vikings about 1000 years ago. See more on Thwaites name origins here.
Can you help?
If you are connected to, or interested in, the family connections of Robert Ernest Thwaites , you are welcome to submit links with a brief description to the webmaster of this site.