The Nebauer Family (pronounced similar to “neighbour”)

The first of my “German” ancestors to arrive in Australia was my 2^nd great grand uncle Eugene, and his wife aunty Caroline (her family name was Umscheid) who emigrated to Australia from the village of Dorfprozelten on the River Main.  They set sail from Hamburg on the ship ‘Reiherstieg’, leaving on 3^rd April 1852 and arriving in Sydney on the 5^th August that year.  Their one-year old daughter Mary was with them.

In those days there were immigration centres in various parts of NSW and one of these was located in East Maitland and it appears that the Nebauers either chose to come to the Hunter region or were sent her by the NSW Government due to the need for migrant labour. In Bavaria, Eugene had been a stone mason, but he also had skills as a vine dresser (basically someone who was skilled in the pruning and cultivation of grape vines).  When he arrived in East Maitland however, his first job of work was as a coal miner at Four Mile Creek near Woodville (between Maitland and Newcastle) – actually the mine must have been pretty close to where my niece Megan now lives.

Three years later, Eugene was followed to Australia by his sister (my 2^nd great grandmother) Anna Rosina and their mother, Elizabeth (nee Plaz). They arrived in Sydney on the immigrant ship “Peru”, on the 5^th May in 1855 and immediately joined Eugene and family at Four Mile Creek. 
Elizabeth’s husband and Rosanna’s father Johann had passed away in 1838 and, being a widow, she probably had little option but to join her children on their Australian adventure.

The Nebauer family were staunch Catholics and were active members of the Catholic community first of all at Maitland and, later on, at Gungal, Merriwa and Denman.  When Eugene passed away in 1896 and Caroline died in 1904, they were both buried in the “Old Catholic Cemetery” in Merriwa.  Their headstones, however, were removed when the cemetery land was reclaimed by Merriwa Council to construct the public baths.  It hasn’t been possible (for me) to find what happened to them.

Our 3^rd great grandmother, Elizabeth Nebauer (nee Plaz), died in 1871 and is buried in the old Roman Catholic cemetery at Jerry’s Plains.  I have no information at this stage as to why she came to be buried there.  It is possible that one of her grandchildren was living there and that she was living with them at the time. Here is a picture of the location of the cemetery in case anyone wants to visit her resting place. This is taken looking east from the outskirts of Jerry’s Plains.