Media: paperback - 130 pages
Year: 1993
Author: S. Mundy

131 photos, 700 family tree names

From the opening chapter
More than a hundred years ago, a tragic death occurred in Moonta, a mining town in the Copper Triangle of South Australia. An elderly man of 67 years committed suicide ‘while the balance of his mind was disturbed’. The elderly man was Peter Mundy, a painter, the first immigrant of our Mundy family. It is unlikely that we will ever discover the reason behind his suicide. The event was hidden from the majority of his grand-children, so it has come as a shock to most of the family.

The first official record of Peter (held by members of this family) was of a time prior to his arrival in South Australia. It is the British Navy Certificate1 which describes him as having worked on two ships, though the name of these ships is not legible on the Certificate. His rating was ‘Painter’, the date that he entered the service was June 1843 and he was discharged more than 7 years later. His conduct was described as ‘good’ on his first ship, but only ‘fair’ on the second ship. He Joined when he was 24 years old, with a stature of 5’4". His complexion was ‘fair’, his eyes ‘brown’ and his hair ‘dark’.

The next record which mentions him is the Certificate of his marriage. The marriage of Peter and Eleanor was solemnized at the Chapel of Helston, in Cornwall on May 17 1854. Their fathers, Renatus Mundy and Nicholas James, were both shoemakers.

The newly weds left Plymouth, Devon, England, on the sailing ship the ‘William Prowse’ with two other couples on their honeymoon trip . The ship left on May 25th, and arrived in South Australia in August 1854. The ‘William Prowse’ was a wooden-hulled ship-rigged sailing vessel of 611 tonnes built in 1851 at Bridport, Dorset, UK, for Prowse & Co. of Liverpool. She carried 265 passengers who were assisted immigrants. A passenger list is included as Chapter 11.

The first record of Peter in Adelaide is in the Adelaide Citizens Roll. Inl856-57heis recorded as living in Waymouth Street, Adelaide.
A picture of terrace houses at the other end of Gray Street from the house that Peter lived in, in 1883/4, is included in this chapter.3 We can only hope that because of his occupation as plasterer and painter he would have made their residences comfortable for his family. The Colony was only 18 years old when he and Eleanor arrived, so conditions would have been primitive.

Contents

Preface 4
Chapter 1 Peter and Eleanor Mary MUNDY
Chapter 2 Johanna MUNDY
Chapters H onor Ann MUNDY
Chapter 4 Renatus (1) MUNDY
Chapter 5 Adolphus and Constance Emmeline MUNDY and Family
Chapter 6 Louisa Ellen and Hugh NELSON and Family
Chapter 7 Renatus (2) MUNDY
Chapter 8 Susannah MUNDY
Chapter 9 Flora and Seth HARGRAVE and Family
Chapter 10 Thomas and Amelia MUNDY and Family
Chapter 11 Passenger Lists
Family Tree: Descendants of Renatus Mundy
Descendants of Renatus Mundy
Index