WILD or WYLD – anyone lost this family in Victoria?

I’m not surprised if anyone has “lost” this family – and it’s not just because the surname has multiple variations:

• WILD
• WILDE
• WILDS
• WYLD
• WYLDE
• WYLDS

And that’s just some that I’ve found.  The family headstone in the Catholic Section of Eastern Cemetery, Geelong is quite clearly WYLD but most of the BDM Indexes opt for the “I” instead of the “Y”.

The key to this “missing” family is that the majority of the eight children don’t appear in the Victorian Digger BDM Indexes.  Johanna, born at sea on the ship John and Lucy in 1855 appears in both the Marine Index as well as the Pioneer Index.    Son Edward John appeared in the Victorian Early Church Records [ECR].  But all the rest appeared in the Geelong & District Church Records [baptisms] except for Sarah who was only picked up from her entry in the death index.  Oh yes – all the others appeared in the Victorian BDM Indexes for their deaths and marriages but not the births.  And no, it had nothing to do with the births being before civil registration – only Sarah and Johanna [born at sea] fell into that category.

There heaps of more details and references to be added – many on the Geelong and District Database, in the meantime the Family Group Sheet gives you the bigger picture together with all the references – perhaps it will help someone descended from this family that tried VERY hard to remain hidden! 🙂

And what started all of this?  I’ve been recording and researching families who spent time in the Immigration Depot in Geelong.  That was where I first came across the WILD family – when their second daughter, Johanna, was baptised on 21 January 1856, the family gave their abode as “Depot, Geelong”.  This was just five days after the ship John and Lucy arrived in Geelong.  They didn’t leave the depot until 5 February when they went to work for P DUNNE at Fyansford.

I wonder if there are any descendants with photos of any family members?