What tangled webs they wove

I was looking for information on Manasseh Ward's early life this week and was reviewing some of my saved snippets about the history of Brisbane Water. A small piece from 1952, written by Charles Swancott, caught my eye because of a brief mention of Manasseh. While re-reading the piece, my eye was drawn to a mention of the grave of a Mrs Bogan, a surname I remembered from my recent Henderson research. It took me a while to join the dots ... but the penny finally dropped.

To recap on a sordid tale from Robert Geary Henderson's story, he was named as a co-respondent in the divorce of James Bogan from his wife, Elizabeth (Lizzie) Bogan nee Stratten in 1888. Robert was not found guilty in the case, but he was in a relationship with Elizabeth at the time and they eventually married in 1896 (Robert's third marriage).

My first instinct was that our branch of the family had no direct interest in the Bogan family, and really only a peripheral interest in Lizzie (or Gertrude as she was also known). But in a coincidence I spotted the name Bogan in the Ward side of the family tree as well.

Manasseh's eldest sister, Mary Ann Ward, married Rock Davis, a Brisbane Water shipbuilder. Rock and Mary Ann's daughter Eva Davis married William Bogan, who turns out to be James Bogan's older brother.

In the 1880s when these events were taking place, Brisbane Water was a small community, so it is not surprising that such family connections would occur. There were not that many families to choose from when it came to choosing a partner.

Looking at the timeframe of the events, James Bogan and Lizzie Stratton married in 1876, about a year before Manasseh Ward and Madeline Geary Henderson married, so it is likely that the young couples were known to each other. The two women were about the same age and living in the same community. 

William Bogan and Eva Davis married in 1880 and given Eva was Manasseh's niece, we can assume that Manasseh and Madeline also know this couple. So it would have been a serious social embarrassment for Madeline when her father started a family with Lizzy Bogan while Lizzy was still legally married to James Bogan. 

I have not discovered any information on the relationship that existed between Robert Geary Henderson and his eldest surviving child, Madeline, but we know that she thought him a 'wastrel'  (a wasteful person, spendthrift, idler or good-for-nothing). They must have maintained some level of contact and Manasseh Ward is listed as one of the witnesses to Robert's burial at Veteran Hall in 1908.