Dale Family History

The Story of the Stow family

The Bannister and Stow families

This page has the stories of the Bannister and Stow families.

The information on this page is a shortened version of the full story. You can read their full story and supplementary stories from the links on the Home page.

NB: The Stow name was written in two different ways in many records: Stow and Stowe. I have chosen to use the surname Stow, and believe the e was just a flourish of the pen which was misinterpreted as an e.

The surname Bannister was also variously written with one n and two.

You can read the full story of the Bannister-Stow families in the following pdf file, and other supplementary files.

Joseph BANNISTER and Isabella BOLTON

Joseph BANNISTER was the son of Robert BANNISTER. He was christened on 27 September 1770 in Saint Mary, Lancaster, Lancashire, England. (Names and dates for these early ancestors taken from Ancestry Hints and linked family trees. Some information was unreadable or not available, and there was conflicting dates in some cases. Sometimes the names were written Stowe and Stow, and Banister and Bannister. Sometimes there were several people with the same name about the same time so it is difficult to know who is who. If anyone has correct data, please advise and provide proof. That would be much appreciated.)

Joseph, a flower dealer, married Isabella BOLTON on 29 February 1796 in Saint Peter, Church Street, Liverpool, England. Isabella was born on 24 May 1775. They had three daughters:

  1. Mary BANNISTER - 21/3/1797
  2. Jane BANNISTER - 21/5/1798
  3. Margaret BANNISTER - 11/6/1800

Joseph died between October and December 1849 in Liverpool. Isabella died in late June 1838 and was buried on 2 July 1838.

Jane BANNISTER was born on 21 May 1798 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England and was christened on 10 June in Newington Chapel, Renshaw Street.

Jane BANNISTER and John STOW

Jane Bannister married John STOW, who was the son of John STOW (1757-1832) and Elizabeth COOK (1744-1817), in 1823. John was born about 1778 in Ipswich, Suffolk, and died in September 1851 in Holborn, Middlesex aged 74 years. He is buried in the New Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, Islington, Middlesex. The 1841 Census records has John's occupation as a bookbinder aged 63, and they lived in Cranbourne Alley, in the St John Baptist Parish, near Margate.

It is believed John and Jane had 7 children altogether:

  1. Caroline STOW - 1819-1897
  2. Margaret Bannister STOW - 1823-1899
  3. Jane STOW - 1825-1897
  4. Charles STOW - 1828-??
  5. Joseph Bannister STOW - 1831-1910
  6. Eliza Mary Bolton STOW - 1832-1914
  7. Ann Elizabeth STOW - 1837-1912

In the 1861 census, Jane Stow aged 63 years is recorded as living in Goswell St, in the Parish of Clerkenwell, Liverpool, Lancashire (a widow) and her daughter Ann Elizabeth Stow, a jewel case liner, aged 24 in Margate, Kent. Jane died between April and June 1862 in Clerkenwell.

However, it appears from records that John Stow was married before he met Jane Bannister. With Sophia EUWINS (1780-1838), married on 25 December 1798 at St Mary Le Tower, Ipswich, Suffolk, they had three children:

  1. John EUWINS b. 6 April 1799
  2. Thomas EUWINS b. 24 April 1801
  3. Marianne EUWINS b. 21 October 1813

Sophia died in 1838 in St Olave, Southwark, London. Records are unclear what happened to her first marriage to John Stow and when or if they divorced as no information could be found. More work is needed on this in the future. However the dates show that between Marianne's birth in 1813 and Margaret Bannister's birth in 1823, and as John and Jane married in 1823, thus it makes Caroline potentially illegitimate or she has a different father.

1. Caroline STOW

Caroline STOW was born about 1819, and was married on 22 May 1854 to a George Tite, a Servant of Belgrave Square. Her sister Anne Elizabeth Stow and brother in law George Dixie were the witnesses. However George Tite died on 15 February 1864 in Clerkenwell aged 44 years, just ten years after their marriage. He was buried at St James, St Pancras Camden.

Caroline then accepted an offer of marriage from a Frederick Darby from Wellington, New Zealand, and sailed off to a new life in the colonies in 1878/79. After Frederick Darby died in Wellington in 1893 aged 66 years, Caroline left and travelled to Victoria to be with her sister Jane. Jane Marriott (Caroline’s sister) died on 2 August 1897 in Campbell’s Creek, Victoria, Australia aged about 72 years and is buried at the Castlemaine General Cemetery. It appears that Caroline died in 1899 as the Castlemaine Historical Society reports that Caroline Darby is buried with her sister Jane in Campbells Creek, although only a death record can be located, and she is not mentioned on the headstone inscription.

2. Margaret Bannister STOW

Margaret Bannister STOW was born about 1823 in Margate, Kent, and christened on 14 December 1823 in St John Thanet. Margaret married George DIXIE, a Jewel-case maker on 22 June 1844 in Islington, London. They had 8 children:

  1. Margaret Sarah DIXIE 1846-1937
  2. George William DIXIE 1849-1890
  3. Frederick Charles DIXIE 1854-1919
  4. Alfred John DIXIE 1856-1895
  5. Walter James DIXIE 1858-1923
  6. Minnie DIXIE 1860-1937 (See Story)
  7. Herbert Joseph DIXIE 1862-1904 (See Story)
  8. Frank Alexander DIXIE 1864-1950

All were born in Clerkenwell, Middlesex, England. George Dixie died on 16 May 1873 at 13 Wilmington Square, Middlesex. Margaret Dixie died on 26 April 1899 in Edmonton. In the 1891 Census Margaret was living with her son Frederick, then aged 37 years, a merchant's clerk. Frederick Dixie died on 28 May 1919 in Islington.

Margaret wrote several letters to her brother Joseph, sister Eliza and sister Caroline over the years, and those that survived from when Emily Dale died in 1950 have been transcribed. They offer an insight into the family goings-on at the time. See below for the family letters.

3. Jane STOW

Jane STOW was born about 1825 in Margate and was christened on 15 January 1826 in St John Thanet. Jane married John MARRIOTT on 21 May 1857 in Campbell's Creek, Victoria, Australia. At the time John Marriott was listed as a miner, and also later worked for the Standard Brewery, but became a well-known and award-winning orchardist and horticulturalist in Victoria according to his obituary and the many newspaper articles about him. It is not known how many siblings John Marriott had but there were at least 5 according to the 1841 Census.

John was the son of Thomas MARRIOTT and Sarah GARNER who married on December 6, 1829 in the St. Mary the Virgin Church in Eccles, Lancashire. John was born in Eccles on 2 April 1832 and christened much later on 14 May 1854 - the record notes his parents were resident in Barton, and his father was a Gardener. Eccles is on the outskirts of the modern Manchester.

There are seven recorded children to Jane Stow:

  1. Eliza Mary STOW - 1856-1897 (twin) - father unknown
  2. Jane STOW - 1856-1856 (twin) - father unknown
  3. Martha MARRIOTT (1st) - 1859-1860
  4. Reuben MARRIOTT - 1860-1860
  5. Martha MARRIOTT (2nd) - 1862-
  6. Alice MARRIOTT - 1864-1905
  7. Alfred John MARRIOTT - 1867-1903

Jane originally travelled to Australia aboard the ship "Omega" in 1856. She had departed from Southampton for Geelong, Australia on 3 June, arriving on 16 September 1856. Twin girls were born on board the ship, Jane and Eliza Mary. Baby Jane died at 2 days on 11 September. No father was listed. Jane was met at the dock by her brother-in-law Mr Charles DALE, of Castlemaine. From records it is believed she was heading to stay with her sister Eliza and/or Caroline, who were in Castlemaine by that time. Jane's occupation was listed as "a cook", aged 30, and that she could read. She went with Charles on 22 September to Castlemaine.

Jane Stow married John Marriott in the Parsonage (School House), Campbells Creek, Victoria, on May 21, 1857 (#1324). The officiating minister at the wedding was John Marlow, Church of England, and the witnesses were Joseph Stow and Eliza Dale (her brother and sister). A copy of the marriage certificate records show John as being a miner, suggesting he was probably attracted to Australia by the prospect of finding gold as many young single men were at the time. As gold petered out in the Loddon region, he turned to the family business of market gardening, realising the demand for locally grown produce to feed the people. The Marriotts were well known back in the UK as market gardeners.

It is believed John travelled to Melbourne from Liverpool arriving in September 1854 on the "Queen of the Seas". Records state: "John Marriott. 22 (b.1832). Occ: Gasfitter. English. Appears to be travelling on his own." This means John could not have been the father of the twins Eliza Mary and Jane judging by the dates involved. The surviving twin Eliza Mary would have been about 8 months old at the time of the marriage, so he probably adopted her, either formally or informally.

After they married, John and Jane Marriott settled in Campbells Creek, near Castlemaine, taking up orcharding, and the remaining children were born there over a period of 11 years. John was a leading orchardist in the Loddon region and survived a major flood in Campbell's Creek in 1889 and the wreck of the s.s. Cheviot in 1887.

John Marriott's name started showing up in newspaper reports on local agricultural and horticultural shows, listing his exhibits and prize-winning entries. He also exported some of his products to New Zealand as well as selling locally and regionally.

Jane MARRIOTT died on 2 August 1897 in Campbell's Creek, Victoria, Australia aged about 72 years and is buried at the Castlemaine General Cemetery. Her husband John Marriott died six years earlier on 25 March 1891 aged 59 years. Also buried with their parents are Martha (died 1860) and Reuben (died 1860).

Eliza Mary STOW/MARRIOTT, the surviving twin, married a Samuel Pearce PENNA, a miner, in 1881 in Campbell's Creek. Samuel's birthplace was Adelaide.

Eliza and Samuel Penna had eight children born in Castlemaine or Campbell's Creek:

  1. Joseph Arthur PENNA - 1882-1956
  2. Alfred John PENNA - 1884-1982
  3. Alice Jane PENNA - 1886-1937
  4. Rueben Pearce PENNA - 1889-1923
  5. Louisa Frances PENNA - 1891-1985
  6. Samuel Thomas PENNA - 1893-1894
  7. Caroline Pearce PENNA - 1894-1980
  8. Albert Victor PENNA - 1897-1926

Samuel Penna died on 13 April 1922, while Eliza died aged 83 years in Brunswick in 1939.

4. Charles STOW

Charles STOW was born in 1828 in Margate, Kent, and christened on 16 March 1828. There is a hospital record for Charles on 5 November 1842 aged 14 years with bronchitis. He was released a couple of days later. No further information is available about Charles, and his whereabouts and death remains a mystery. He must have died young though as his sister Margaret does not mention him in any of her letters.

5. Joseph Bannister STOW

Joseph Bannister Stow.

Joseph Bannister STOW was born on 15 May 1831 in Margate, Kent, and christened on 28 August 1831. You can also read about him on this webpage by Lois Willis for Trove Tuesday.

Joseph married Mary Ann FITZGERALD in 1856. Together they had six children:

  1. Mary Ann STOW - 1857-
  2. Clara STOW - 1859-1862
  3. Charles Fitzgerald STOW - 1861-1862
  4. Joseph STOW - 1862-1923
  5. Frederick Brewer STOW - 1864-1937
  6. Jane STOW - 1866-

Joseph's wife Mary Ann died on 10 April 1866 in Maldon, Victoria, as did her baby Jane on 22 April just 22 days after her birth on 1 April. Two earlier children also died tragically: Clara on 15 January 1862 aged 3, and Charles on 25 January 1862 aged 1.

Following Mary's death, Joseph married Elizabeth WHIMPEY on 15 May 1868 in St Augustine's Church, Inglewood, Australia. Elizabeth was christened on 13 November 1846 in St James Parish, Melbourne. When they married Elizabeth was a spinster aged 23 years and Joseph was a widower with 3 living and 3 deceased children and was 37 years of age. The Stow family lived mainly in Newcastle, New South Wales.

They went on to have 11 children:

  1. Margaret Elizabeth STOW 1869-1945
  2. Rebecca Jane STOW 1870-1955
  3. Sarah Eliza STOW 1871-1946
  4. Alice Maud STOW 1874-1875
  5. Harriet Ada STOW 1875-1969
  6. John Whimpey STOW 1877-1878
  7. Annie Maud STOW 1879-1948
  8. Eva Caroline STOW 1881-1960
  9. Edith Minnie STOW 1883-1962
  10. Mabel Florence STOW 1885-1965
  11. Herbert William STOW 1888-1970

Wife and children of Joseph Bannister Stow - Joseph Bannister Stow was the brother of Eliza Mary Bolton Dale nee Stowe.

Wife and children of Joseph Bannister Stow - Joseph Bannister Stow was the brother of Eliza Mary Bolton Dale nee Stow.

Joseph died on 13 August (July according to burial records) 1910 in Wickham, New South Wales, Australia at age 79. He was buried on 14 August (July) 1910 in the Methodist Cemetery, Sandgate, New South Wales, Section 7, Lot 18 of the Primitive Methodist Portion.

Elizabeth died on 2 August 1942 at 8 Selwyn Street, Merewether, NSW at her daughter's residence.

Headstone - Joseph Bannister Stow and Elizabeth Stow.

6. Eliza Mary Bolton STOW

Eliza Mary Bolton Stow.

Eliza Mary Bolton Stow (Stowe) was born on 8 December 1832. She married Charles Hawkins DALE and went on to have 13 children of which 11 survived. You can read their story on the Charles and Eliza Dale webpage.

  1. William Charles DALE - 1854-1914
  2. Eliza Mary DALE - 1856-1922
  3. Lydia Annie DALE - 1859-1941
  4. Rose DALE - 1861-1891
  5. Edward DALE - 1864-19??
  6. George DALE - 1866-1948
  7. Frank Beaumont DALE - 1868-1868
  8. Henry DALE - 1869-1909
  9. Frank DALE - 1870-1954 (twin)
  10. Stillborn Twin - 1870-1870
  11. Emily DALE - 1873-1950
  12. Mary Constance DALE - 1875-1914
  13. Clara DALE - 1877-1949

Eliza and Charles emigrated to Australia where they married, and then to New Zealand. They are buried together in Terrace End Cemetery, Palmerston North.

Headstone - Charles and Eliza Dale, Terrace End Cemetery, Palmerston North.

7. Ann Elizabeth STOW

Ann (or Annie) Elizabeth STOW was born in 1837 in Margate, Kent. She was christened on 21 May 1837 in St John Thanet, Margate. Ann married John MILNER, a widower, on 30 August 1862 at St Mark, Myddelton Square, Islington. Ann remained in England. Together they had four children: Albert, Henry, Harriet and Frederick. The eldest son Albert Edward John Milner was baptised on 22 October 1863 at 40 Devonshire St, Islington (registered in the District of St Peter, Islington in the country of Middlesex). Ann kept in contact with her sister Eliza by letter giving her the news from England.

In the 1861 Census she is living in Clerkenwell, Middlesex with her mother, and in 1891 she is living in Islington with her son named Albert.

There is a 1911 UK Census showing an Annie Milner (mother-in-law) aged 75, a widow, born in Margate in Kent, Albert Milner (brother-in-law) aged 47, single, a labourer in a bus factory, born Huxton, London, living with a family Thomas Joseph Parker and Lena Parker, and their 4 children. This is her daughter Helena and her family. John Milner probably died early in 1873 so Annie was a widow for many years, and according to her sister Margaret in letters to Eliza, Annie struggled to support her family after her husband died. However she did not remarry, and died in Edmonton, aged 75 years in 1912. Burial unknown.

The family letters

The following analysis and list are the letters written from England to family members in Australia and New Zealand. All letters are in MS Word format.

Margaret was the letter-writer to her brother and sisters in Victoria between 1864 and 1898. Her beautifully handwritten letters were a pleasure to read, and it was obvious she was well educated and thoughtful.

There is one letter from Jane Stow probably written in the mid-late 1850s to her daughter Eliza and son Joseph in Victoria, in which she says she hasn't had a letter from her "long lost Eliza" for four years and that she would struggle to recognise her on the street now.

It's quite interesting to reflect on what Margaret Dixie wrote about:

She wrote to Eliza and Joseph lamenting their tardiness at replying, stating that in 1879 she had not heard from Eliza for ten years, and she only occasionally heard from Joseph or Jane. She wondered how they were getting on, commented on their families, promised to send newspapers and photographs, and gave accounts of the goings on with the rest of the family. She wondered if those in Victoria had forgotten all about the family left behind in England.

In a letter in 1885 to Eliza, Margaret feels terrible that Eliza was finding life tough - it would appear that Charles was not working or had been ill, and was unable to provide for the family. She encouraged her to stay strong for the sake of her family.

On the health front, it appears both Margaret and Eliza suffered from asthma. Margaret complained of the cold English winters and how it affected her health. She commented on Charles Dale's health and hoped he would be recovered soon. However, she noted in December 1898 that soon the sisters would all be widows. All their husbands had died young.

Margaret talked about how her husband had died of heart disease and dropsy (congestive heart failure), and how Annie's husband had died a few months earlier, leaving both of them with large families to support. She provided money to Annie and wished she could send money to her sister Eliza to help her out as well but she was struggling herself. Caroline's husband also died early, and she accepted a marriage proposal from a friend's brother in Wellington NZ and moved there. After he died, she went to Victoria to be with her sister Jane, and died and was buried there with Jane.

Margaret was a deeply religious woman who trusted in God to do the right thing, and her unwavering belief that things would be alright. She encouraged Eliza to have courage and to be brave.

Margaret did not initially know the reasons why Jane left for Victoria so suddenly, but when she found out from Eliza, she promised to keep the secret. She had not heard from Jane for 5 or 6 years in an 1885 letter, but she was glad she was successful and hoped she was happy.

Occasionally Margaret gave Eliza news of other people in England they knew but she thought after so many years, that their news would not be of much interest. She also sent photos and commented on any photos received.

Joseph wrote to Eliza in Otago in 1866 saying that he was finding life a struggle with a drought in the area creating water problems at the brewery in Maldon and the loss of customers. He had lost his first wife suddenly, plus two of his young children, and after remarrying, had a very large family.

Alice Marriott was aware that Eliza's eldest son William had gone back to Victoria and was about to be married to a local girl Sarah Ottrey, after he found work.

In all the letters, they stated that they missed each other, pleaded for more letters, news and photographs, and wished their kisses, love and blessings on all the little children.

The Family Letters - zipped up as one document (54 MB)

Contact details

If you have any information or photos to add to the site, or any corrections, please contact Dale Hartle in Levin, New Zealand, by phone +64 21 45 34 24 or email me at mjhartle at xtra.co.nz (please adjust email address).