Category Archives: News

New Genealogical Database now available

We’ve now added a fully functioning family database to the site. It will enable you to get information about any person (not living) in our records. You can access by clicking on the “Genealogical Files” tab at the top of any page on the site or you can click here

Noel Staley – Lucky to be still with us…

I was reading the Argus on Saturday 27 May 1939 at the Trove, a treasure trove of articles from old papers that have been digitized by the National Library of Australia. It’s well worth a visit. Anyway, I found the following piece regarding Noel Staley. If this had been any worse, we might not have had this site….

BOY, EXPLORING LINE,

STRUCK BY TRAIN

When exploring the railway line between Hartwell and Burwood with another small boy, Noel Staley, aged 4 years, of Halley avenue, Camberwell, was struck by the running-board of a train late yesterday afternoon. Suffering from fractured ribs and abrasions, he was admitted to the Children’s Hospital for observation. His condition is not serious.

The train was about 300 yards from the Burwood station when the driver saw Staley and another small boy walking along the line. He applied the brakes with a force which jolted passengers from their seats, and the train had almost stopped when the running-board struck Staley. The boy was just running off the line when he was struck. His companion escaped injury

It just show you need to be careful…

Allan William Staley (1867-1913) Upholding the Law

The following was printed in the Riverine Grazier, Friday, 31 August 1894

THE SHEARING DIFFICULTY.
Free Labourers Arrive at Hay.
Special Constables Sworn In.
The Latest Developments.
Free Labourers joining the Unionists
.

[O]n Tuesday night, about half-past eleven, a special train arrived at Hay with fifty-four free laborers and two agents of the Pastoralists’ Union on board.  The train was run right into the engine shed and the doors were closed.  There were a number of unionists at the station, and considerable boo-hooing was indulged in.  A few stones were thrown through the windows of the building, but with that exception no demonstration of violence was made.  A body of police were in attendance, under Mr. Inspector Smith, and guarded the shed during the night.  A few minutes after eight on Wednesday morning, four of Cobb and Co.’s coaches (two seven-horse and two five-horse) were drawn up outside the northern railway fence.  The unionists within the railway enclosure, who numbered about one hundred, were ordered to go outside the fences, which order was enforced by the police, who drove the men out. Etc…

On Wednesday a special meeting of magistrates was convened for the purpose of considering the desirability of reading the Riot Act.  The following justices attended:–– Messrs. John Andrew (presiding), A. P. Stewart, A. G. Stevenson, W. H. Barber, W. Travis, N. J. Trevena, and A. Herriott.  At this meeting it was unanimously decided that, in apprehension of a riot, one hundred special constables should be sworn in.  Steps to carry out that decision were promptly taken.  The police magistrate was absent on duty at Booligal, but he returned in the afternoon, and gave in his adherence to what had been done by the honorary magistrates.  Accordingly the nomination of a number of special constables was made.  In all, one hundred and thirty-three summonses were issued.  Some of these were not served, and some of the persons who were served, although liable to a penalty of £20, did not answer to their names.  The names of those who obeyed the summons, and were sworn in, are as follows:–– Patrick Abberton, W. A. Parker, W. Dawson, Charles Brown, W. G. Acocks, Joseph Addicoat, B. H. Andrew, M. Armitage, G. R. Ayre, T. W. Blanche, T. C. Booth, John Britton, J. Broad, H. B. Broughton, W. G. Butterworth, F. A. Byrne, E. A. Champ, F. J. Clancy, H. G. Cockerton, E. Cronk, G. D. Devine, John Donaldson, G. H. Donohoe, Thomas Duggan, J. G. R. Fewings, H. Fynmore, R. M. Galloway, F. Gibbs, S. C. Sorenson, R. Gibson, G. Gill, G. Haines, E. J. Heath, Alex. Henry, J. Hews, C. Hidgcock, W. K. Hoare, J. Jacka, O. Jones, John Karnaghan, W. J. Lloyd, G. Lobb, John McFarlane, J. C. Smith, F. L. Phillips, F. MacIver, R. C. McKinney, J. B. McLaren, H. B. Maclure, T. A. Massie, F. A. Meakes, Geo. Meeson, C. J. Miller, Alex. Moffat, A. A. Monypeny, F. E. Morgan, G. S. Mullen, H. A. Jennings, J. Newton, T. S. Page, John Parsons sen., W. Pope, Henry Proctor, L. Quarttert, J. Rawnsley, A. Reid, J. H. Reid, M. Reid, L. S. C. Robertson, W. O. Russell, G. Sadler, John Sandow, Thos. Sinclair, Allen Staley, V. B. Sylvander, Jos. Taylor, sen., Joseph Taylor, jun., P. B. Terry, J. Thacker, W. Thurgood, E. D. Stewart, G. W. Watt, W. Wheeler, Lindsay Whitehead, T. W. Wood, C. W. York, W. E. Woodward, George Bond, J. P. Markey, F. J. Walker, H. R. Broughton, H. Camper, F. L. Phillips, G. Reid, J. C. Smith, A. Turner, John Parsons jun.

Allen Staley above, is believed to be Allan William Staley, born 1867, Yandoit.

What Does “Staley” Mean?

The internet is a great place to find things out, and we found out the old meanings of the name “Staley”.

English: byname from Middle English staley ‘resolute’, ‘reliable’, a reduced form of Stallard.
Belgian French: from Old French estalee ‘fish trap’, hence possibly a metonymic occupational name for a fisherman, or topographic name for someone who lived near where fish traps were set.

Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4

No worries “Staleys” are resolute and reliable, but we’re not aware of any fishermen….

Help Grow This Tree

The Family History Report, Thomas Staley, 1769-1851, in the Family Files Menu, gives the “Bare Bones” events for Thomas’s Descendants. We have sources for most of the entries and General Notes for some. Please contact us if you have differing or additional information or just wish to verify something.  Researching the name Staley in Australia shows other Staley families which at this stage don’t appear to be related. This info may be useful if your names aren’t on our tree.

Noel Staley.

We’ve been having Hosting Problems…

If you’re a regular visitor to the Staley family site, you might have come across problems when the site would not display properly. Well, we hope that it is fixed now. We have moved the site to another hosting site and we’re confident we won’t have any issues going forward.

Unfortunately we’re not able to have  the Guestbook, but hopefully they’ll be along in a short while.

Anyway, we feel it is for the best, which is why we have made this change.

Peter

Do You have any Photos?

On our “Who is This” page we’ll feature pictures that, we’re not quite sure of who the people in them are. If you’ve got any that you think are something to do with the Staley name we’d love to hear about them. We can feature them, and see if anybody knows anything about them.

Also, if you’ve got any Staley pictures, maybe forebears of yourself, that you can let us use in the our photograph galleries, we’d love to hear about them. The pictures we’re showing at the moment are from a small part of the family and we’re confident there are many more out there. If you’ve got them please email them to us and we’ll get them online without delay.