The Jenkinsons

The Jenkinsons were not related to us but had a strong connection with the Phillips family from the 1920s through to the 1940s at least. There are several photos of George (and possibly one or more of Girlie) in Bernice Phillips' photo album.

George's and Girlie's father was George Arthur Jenkinson and in one of those interesting coincidences, their mother was born Gertrude Hannah Dwyer, and Gertrude Dwyer's father was Philip Dwyer. Gertrudes's grandfather was John Dwyer, a convict who was transported on the Atlas II in 1802. Apparently Gertrude always believed that her grandfather had been falsely convicted. Those Dwyers are not related to us. George Arthur Jenkinson and Gertrude Hannah Dwyer were married 16 May 1900 at St Patricks Church Hill Sydney.

Gertrude's sister Lena (Ellen) was apparently married to a Ted Kerrison from Bombala, which may explain the connection to our family as we also have some ancestry with Kerrisons of Bombala.

George Arthur Jenkinson and Gertrude Hannah (nee Dwyer), probably late 1950s

George senior died 29 May 1961 and Gertrude on 3 October 1967. George and Gertrude had 8 children:

1. George Adrian - b. 22 January 1901 at North Sydney d. 9 May 1987
   George Adrian Jenkinson was engaged to our Great Aunt, Bernice Phillips (in the photo above left), but the engagement was broken off sometime in the 1920s. Bern's niece (and our mother) Joan Dwyer always believed that the engagement was broken off because George was going to move overseas, possibly to Fiji or that vicinity, and Bern would not leave her family in Australia. However Bern's nephew Kerry Rogers (our mother's older brother) and John Phillips (another of Bern's nephews, son of George Phillips) both believe that George Jenkinsons' mother objected to the marriage believing that Bern wasn't good enough for him. Both George and Bern were Catholic so religion would not have played a part. Whatever the reason, the engagement was broken off and Bern kept the ring - a beautiful platinum one with a large diamond.
2. Gertrude Mary aka "Girlie" - b 21 November 1903 at North Sydney d. 6 May 1993 at Randwick nursing home
   John Phillips recalled that Girlie had some kind of hormonal problem that caused her to grow facial hair, and of course there was no treatment for that in those days. However one of her nephews tells us that it was actually a treatment of some kind that caused the facial hair in the first place. One of her nieces told us that Girlie was a "somewhat tortured soul" and a scizophrenic who spent time in mental institutions more than once during her life and occasionally threatened to throw herself off The Gap. She also got an a train to Melbourne once and two of her brothers had to go down and get her back. Our mother Joan Dwyer remembers going out to Watson's Bay as a young girl with her mother Thelma Phillips on several occasions to visit "Auntie Girlie", and Joan was born in 1935 so the relationship between the Phillips and the Jenkinsons seems to have been fairly close and long lasting.
3. Philip Edward - b. 20 October 1905 at North Sydney d. 11 July 1987
4. Robert Anthony - b. 3 August 1908 at 17 Russell St Watson's Bay d. 2 May 1988
5. William Francis - b. 4 May 1910 at 17 Russell St Watson's Bay d. 18 August 1992
6. Kevin Augustine - b. 15 May 1911 at 17 Russell St Watson's Bay d. 26 October 1993 at home
7. Mervyn Ignatius - b. 26 October 1916 at 17 Russell St Watson's Bay d. 30 April 1995
8. Lawrence Patrick - b. 12 January 1923 at 17 Russell St Watson's Bay d. 12 January 2008 at St. Vincents Hospital Sydney

George and Girlie's father George senior is listed in the electoral rolls as an engineer and in 1910 he helped direct the operation to recover artefacts from the wreck of the Dunbar. Read original story [PDF - 310k]. The Dunbar was one of the best-known and most tragic shipwrecks of the 19th century, just outside Sydney Harbour in 1857. The Dunbar's anchor is still on display at The Gap as a memorial to the 121 lives that were lost there - see Migration Heritage Centre web site. It appears that the anchor was one of the artefacts that George senior helped to recover.

By 1908 and the birth of their 4th child the family had moved to 17 Russell Street, Watsons Bay, a house that George had built. There is a story in the family that George used to row over from North Sydney at weekends to work on the house, named "Adrian" possibly after their first son, although it is possible that George Adrian was named after an earlier member of the family. "Girlie" was still living there in 1980 (her father George having died some time between 1958 and 1963, and her mother Gertrude having died in 1967). In another interesting coincidence, in 1980-81 Joan Dwyer's (nee Rogers) son Anthony lived at 5 Cambridge Avenue Vaucluse, which is on the opposite side of the same block that the Jenkinsons lived. The house is still in the Jenkinson family in 2015, and the current owner believes that the sandstone footings of the house came from a quarry further up Russell Street.

George Adrian was still at Watsons Bay in 1930, but in that same year he married a Madeline Catherine Doyle in Tamworth, NSW. Apparently she was known as "Maddles" by some members of the family. Madeline is described by her niece as "a flamboyant good time lady", and also said that their daughters (Madeleine and Rosemary) were very pretty girls "dressed in velvet dresses with coffee lace collars - the envy of us" when she met them at Watsons Bay. George worked on coastal steamers, possibly as a purser, and often sailed to Tasmania. Apparently he was a very good wood carver and made some beautiful lamp stands and carved faces, many of which are still in the family.

George is missing from the 1933 electoral rolls, but by 1936 he and Madeline were living at 3 Maitland Avenue, Kensington. In 1943 they were living in Maroubra. There is a story in the Sydney Morning Herald from Saturday 5 February 1949 about a house fire in Haig Street Maroubra [PDF - 148k] and the house was owned by "Mrs George Jenkinson." Apparently she didn't put a cigarette out properly and the house caught on fire, destroying "£150 worth of furs and a large sum of money". It also burned a large hole in the ceiling.

George and Madeline apparently fell on very hard times and suffered financially, possibly as a result of the fire, or their luck may have changed beforehand. George had been a very good sprinter in his day and had to sell off most of his silverware that he had won over the years. Their grandson tells us that the family ended up at Hearne Bay which was something of a tent city in what we now know as Riverwood in south west Sydney. The grandson believes they had a pretty rough time of it whilst at Hearne Bay. From there they went into housing commission accommodation at 9 Lyle St, Hurstville. The photo on the right shows George with one of his grandsons in the late 1970s.

George lived at Lyle St until he passed away in 1987. His final year or two were spent in Eddystone Nursing Home at Bexley after suffering numerous strokes. He finally suffered a major stroke which led to his passing. His niece recalls that he was still very well groomed and cheerful, listened to the radio a lot and followed the Roosters Rugby League team. She also relates that he was a very good wood carver and that her family still has some carvings that he did for them as gifts. He is buried at the Woronora Cemetery.

George and Madeline had 3 children:

1. Madeleine Adrienne Undercliffe (nee Jenkinson) who passed away on 26/8/2011 and is also buried at the Woronora Cemetery with her husband Cas.
2. Rosemary Anne who is currently residing near Albury NSW
3. George Anthony Jenkinson, known as Tony, born 1 January 1946. He lives in Queensland and had 3 children.

Information on this page comes from Phillip Dwyer's research, as well as through anecdotes from Joan Dwyer, Kerry Rogers, John Phillips, and several descendants of the Jenkinsons including George's grandson Blair and niece Patricia, and Mervyn Ignatius' son Chris.

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