Clara Elizabeth Saltmarsh
1866–1950 · Tasmania
Clara’s life connects the earliest generations of my Australian family with the Tasmania my mother and I inherited. Behind her lie four of my First Fleet ancestors and Norfolk Island. Ahead of her are Pearl, Lexie, Shirley—and eventually me.
First Fleet → Norfolk Island → Tasmania → Clara → Pearl → Lexie → Shirley → Peter → Ashley
Clara’s Story
Clara Elizabeth Saltmarsh was born in Tasmania on 11 July 1866. By the time she was born, her family had already been in Australia for almost eighty years.
Her ancestry reached back through Norfolk Island to four people who had arrived with the First Fleet in 1788: Nathaniel Lucas, Olivia Gascoigne, William Saltmarsh and Mary Phillips.
But Clara’s own story belonged to Tasmania. She married Herbert Daniel Neal in 1888, and their descendants became part of the generations of the family who lived in northern and north-western Tasmania. Among their children was Pearl Mary Grace Neal, born in 1899, through whom the family line continued to Lexie Atkinson, Shirley Hyland and eventually to me.
Four Generations, 1950
Taken in 1950, this photograph captures four consecutive generations of my family. Clara was about 83, her daughter Pearl about 50, granddaughter Lexie about 27, and great-granddaughter Shirley about seven or eight years old. Clara died later that year, making this an especially valuable record of the family across four generations.
Clara’s Family
Clara sits at the centre of seven generations of this branch of my family. Follow the names to explore their stories.
John Saltmarsh + Elizabeth Letitia Hodgetts
↓
Emma Saltmarsh
↓
Clara Elizabeth Saltmarsh + Herbert Daniel Neal
↓
Pearl Neal → Lexie Atkinson → Shirley Hyland → Peter → Ashley