My grandmother Annie Maria Unwin was born in Virginia America. I have the USA census record from 1860 - shown above. My father said the family (mother, father, 2 boys and 2 year old twin girls) escaped from the Civil War by being smuggled out in a “potato boat”. That would have been 1862 or 1863 depending on which month the census was taken, as the twins were 3 months old in that.

Since dad was under the impression that they migrated to Australia when my grandmother was about 10, I always assumed they had been taken back to England where her parents had originally come from. But I could never find any record of them living in England during that period or ship records of them coming to Australia.

Then when I joined Ancestry.com.au I discovered that my great grandmother died in Brisbane in 1864. That would probably have to mean the smugglers brought them directly to Australia…which could explain no shipping records. It would be wonderful to find out if they were one of the first refugee boats brought into Australia but I suppose I will never know. Still it did solve the mystery.

Glynis Hardgraves