This is my FREE website, that I would like to share with my my family. 

My name is Lesley Smith, the daughter of David Ernest James Smith  born 1930 & Joyce May Hancock born 26th May 1930. 
I am a Gggrandaughter of Anne Duke (nee Gaynor) and George Duke,  Anne was one of the 3 women documented to have sewn the Eureka Flag, where she was also documented to have been within the Stockade on Dec 3rd 1853 when it was overrun by soldiers with her husband George and her brother James Gaynor who is recorded to have been one of the men to have helped Peter Lalor hide and to escape.
Ref: The Encyclopaedia  of Eureka
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This is through my own father's mother's line : Ellen Josephine Duke's family heritage.
 SMITH / DUKE **                                 HANCOCK / GEORGE
 MY FATHER'S LINE                               MY MOTHER'S LINE
David Ernest Smith                                Joyce May Smith
   
In my direct families case: if you are a descendant Smith** through this marriage of my mother Joyce Hancock to my father David Ernest James Smith then YOU ARE ALSO CLASSED AS  A DESCENDANT OF A VICTORIAN PIONEER FAMILY of : 
Anne Duke ( Gaynor) & George Duke who both were documented as active participants in The Eureka Stockade.
Likewise , if you are any Duke descendant from the marriage of Anne Duke ( Gaynor ) & George Duke the same applies. 
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RECENT EVENTS

19th NOVEMBER 2022
Very sad to document here that I've lost my cousin Rhonda who was 5 years younger than me. Rhonda King was the eldest daughter of my mum's sister Meryl King (Hancock) & Leslie King. During the past several years Rhonda & I both shared journeys of our mother's aging and  having to enter aged care facilities. RHhonda left behind 2 sons a daughter in law and 2 young grandchildren whom she was looking forward to spending the Christmas holidays with. 
 Rhonda had been diagnosed with breast cancer & put off her treatment to care for her mother , but then it became too late. However, she still had hope and she continued to support me when mum was in Palliative care at the Austin. I can never thank her enough for that. Both mum and her sister passed away in the Irene Newton John Palliative Care Ward , then within weeks Rhonda also passed away there as well. Such a tragic turn of events. I miss her so much. 

14th OCTOBER 2022
 Sadly at the age of 92yrs my mother Mrs Joyce May Smith passed away at the Irene Newton John Wing of the Austin Hospital in Heidelberg . I was privileged to be by her side along with my cousin Rhonda, shortly followed by my sons Andy & James.


FEBRUARY 6th 2020
Sad to report the passing of my mother's sister Mrs Meryl Lillian King  ( Hancock) at the Irene Newton John Palliative Care Unit at the Austin Hospita Heidelberg Melbourne Victoria. Aunty Meryl is survived by her 2 daughters Rhonda & Linda . Aunty Meryl was an avid fan and life member of the Collingwood Football Club. 
 
TUESDAY 5TH JUNE 2018

Saddened to advise family members that on Tuesday we lost a family member my cousin: Michael John Smith in Geelong Victoria - aged only 49yrs. 
 Michael fought a huge battle the past 8 months and was taken far too soon.  Michael was supported during this difficult time by his wife Helen and his Smith brothers, Mark & Trish,Darren, Tony and Cathy and niece and nephew: Dan Smith and Amy Smith and his youngest brother Brett. 
 Michael was an accomplished musician and over the years he was a member of many Victorian Brass Bands, Michael spent the last few years as a member of the Geelong West Brass Band.

~RIP WITH THE ANCESTORS~



SAT 24TH FEBRUARY 2018

On Saturday February 24th 2018, my eldest 
 son James Degenkamp and myself (Lesley 
 Smith) attended the
 Altona Football Clubs Centennial Gala 
 Ball at the MCG Members dining room. 
 I have been liasing with Eleanor at the 
 club for the past 3 years sharing our 
 families information
 and photos etc with the club. So it was 
 great to be seated next to Eleanor and 
 her husband at this
 momentous occasion to celebrate the clubs 
 100yr centenary which we had been invited 
 to as
 descendants of: James Francis Duke (1863-
 1941). (Additionally my grandfather was 
 also a captain/coach of an Altona FC 
 Premiership in the 1920's - David Ernest 
 Smith)

I am quite sure that James Francis Duke 
 (a son of early Pioneers) who by all 
 accounts was a godly
 and generous man would have wondered what 
 all of the fuss was about: - a footy club 
 he started in a
 paddock over 100 years ago??. 
 However I am quite sure that he would 
 have been delighted to know that this 
 wonderful footy club
 that he had the vision to start in 1918 
 after his son George Duke was the first 
 soldier who returned
 to the district injured after WW1 was not 
 only still serving the needs of the local 
 community but is
 thriving club with over 350 junior 
 members!!

James Duke was a man of vision and he 
 knew that some of these often broken 
 young men returning home
 after so long away needed not just the 
 love of their families, but they needed 
 to establish
 themselves back home, with that same 
 sense of camaraderie and mate-ship to 
 help enable them to
  integrate back into their world and life 
 back at home. So a footy club was the 
 first thing that
 James Francis Duke helped establish in 
 the district. He later established the 
 Altona Life Saving
 Club, the Cricket,Club, Cycling Club,the 
 Altona Progress Association, the Altona 
 Hospital and he
 also became the first JP in the local 
 area and an active member of the catholic 
 church.

~~~     VALE: "JAMES 
 FRANCIS DUKE"  (1863-1941)     ~~~

It was lovely to meet up with another 
 descendant of James Francis Duke at this 
 Centennial
 Celebration: Robert Coombes who's 
 grandmother was also one of Jame's 
 daughters : Florence Duke, who
 was an older sister of my grandmother's: 
 Ellen Josephine Duke (known as Nellie)
   
            
                 
 September 2016
 Sad to inform you that Uncle Bill passed 
 away on Sunday 25th September 2016. 
 (Bill)Ernest William Smith was the last 
 surviving child of:
 David Ernest Smith & (Nellie Helen) Ellen 
 Jospephine Duke
 Condolences to all of the boys and their 
 families.

NEWSFLASH June 2016: 
 WE HAVE WELCOMED THE SAFE ARRIVAL OF THE 
 NEWEST ADDITION TO MY FAMILY LINE: MY 
 YOUNGEST SON ANDREW
 DEGENKAMP AND HIS PARTNER REBECCA CHAPPLE 
 ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE SAFE ARRIVAL 
 OF : SAGE GRACE
 DEGENKAMP ON 1ST JUNE 2016 ~ MILDURA (ALL 
 ARE WELL!!)

Goodday! 
 My name is Lesley Smith,
 I am the administrator and creator of 
 this website. 4 years ago I decided to 
 create a website for
 myself and for other family members to be 
 able to access without needing a 
 subscription.
 To direct our family information into a 
 single website seemed a logical step so 
 that registered
 family members can access- free of 
 charge.!!!! I have most of the books that 
 are referred to in this
 website and happy to do look-ups.

100 YEARS CENTENARY OF ANZAC 1914-1918
 If you have links to members who served 
 during The Great War within our own 
 branch of our family
 tree if you could please place their 
 Service Record Number within the comments 
 so that family
 members can also see and remember their 
 efforts,
 You also may have been re-directed to our 
 website from a link I've created at the 
 Anzac Centenary
 Website for -
 ** Ernest Smith (15063) was my paternal 
 GG Grandfather who served during WW1 
 1916-1918

OR 
 **- Charles Peter Beckwith who was my 
 maternal grandmother's first cousin. 
 Unfortunately Charles
 aged only 19 was killed in action at 
 Poziers, France, RIP.

I have uploaded both of their service 
 information and linked it to this our 
 family website

Who am I? 

I am now 62yrs old and I live in 
 Rochester,Victoria, Australia. 
 MY PARENTS ARE:
 DAVID ERNEST JAMES SMITH (1930-1975)
  & JOYCE MAY SMITH (nee HANCOCK) (1930 - 
 ). Mum is still with us and is 87yrs old.

THIS IS A LABOR OF LOVE AND I AM 
 CONTINUALLY ADDING NEW INFORMATION, 
 STORIES AND PHOTOS.
 BUT I CANNOT DO IT WITHOUT YOUR HELP? IF 
 YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION YOU WOULD LIKE 
 ADDED PLEASE
 CONTACT ME ON THE ABOVE LINK OR VIA MY 
 HOTMAIL EMAIL : 
 lesleysmith100@hotmail.com
  
 PS - BEFORE YOU LEAVE THIS SITE, COULD 
 YOU PLEASE TAKE A MINUTE TO SIGN INTO TO 
 "GUESTBOOK" AND
 LEAVE A BRIEF COMMENT OR SUGGESTION?



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 """ E U R E K A """ *** DEC 1854  ****
 DISCOVERY - MY FATHER'S GREAT 
 GRANDPARENTS:

GEORGE & ANNE DUKE(NEE -GAYNOR) ARE 
 RECORDED TO HAVE BEEN WITHIN THE EUREKA 
 STOCKADE UPRISING OF DEC
 3,1854. ANN HAS BEEN RECORDED AS ONE OF 
 THE 3 WOMEN TO HAVE SEWN THE EUREKA FLAG. 
 ANN'S BROTHER
 THOMAS WAS ALSO RECORDED TO HAVE HELPED 
 PETER LALOR ESCAPE. 
 REFER TO BOOK "THE EUREKA 
 ENCYCLOPAEDIA"-2004.
  THEY ARE ALL NOTED ON PAGES 163 & 164. 
 I RECENTLY ORGANISED TO HAVE THEIR GRAVE 
 SITE IN THE ECHUCA CEMETERY RESTORED- 
 JUNE 2014
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I created this website so that we as 
 family descendants will be able to view & 
 share historical
 records,photos and family stories etc 
 here for FREE! THERE IS NO JOINING FEE at 
 this website!!

To view this work, simply email me for 
 permission stating your relationship to 
 this website and I
 will get you up and running- YES IT IS 
 THAT SIMPLE!!! 
 WE ALL NEED TO CHERISH AND VALUE THE 
 STORIES OF OUR DESCENDANTS- HOWEVER 
 MOSTLY - WE MUST TAKE THE
 TIME TO RECORD THEM FOR FUTURE 
 GENERATIONS TO UNDERSTAND.

NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW WHAT IS MEANT BY 
 "THE OUTDOOR THUNDERBOX" IN THE YEARS TO 
 COME!!

Anyway the work I have uploaded here 
 concentrates on my own ancestry roots, 
 being Smith (my own
 maiden name)& Hancock-my mother's 
 paternal side.

The Hancock family,came to Victoria via 
 Adelaide, South Australia.  
 This site displays ancestors and 
 descendants of these:“Collingwood 
 /Abbotsford Hancock's”,and Smiths
 who came to Melbourne directly from 
 England. Where I have stumbled over other 
 Hancock family
 member's information I can link I have 
 included them here also.
 Now my mother is Joyce May Hancock,(born 
 1930 and turned 80 on the 26th May 2010)- 
 Joyce
 married David Smith(dec 1975). Joyce was 
 the first daughter of CLARENCE JOHN 
 HANCOCK and THELMA
 GEORGE-(who married as 2nd cousins!). As 
 Joyce's paternal grandfather was: GEORGE 
 WALTER HANCOCK & 
 and her maternal grandfather was: WALTER 
 EDWARD GEORGE who were 1st cousins.

The Victorian HANCOCK ROOT starts mostly 
 with WILLIAM GEORGE HANCOCK(christened in 
 Adelaide in
 1847)- who married EMMA LAVINA BOUCHER in 
 Victoria in 1875 Record No:3593. However 
 it seems that he
 was one of at least NINE "HANCOCK" 
 children who were born in Adelaide South 
 Australia.
 His father was George Charles Hancock 
 (Joyce has the original glass photo of 
 him). We believe
 that he was a Sergeant in the South 
 Australian Police Force according to SA 
 Police Records which we
 have a copy of. The folklore goes that he 
 arranged to come out to Australia on the 
 same boat as his
 brother who was being transported to 
 Australia as a convict in order to 
 protect him but he was born
 in South Australia,? - So not really sure 
 about that story stands up now???

To take a peak click on the drop down 
 menu under "Tree" then click on KIN then 
 you can choose your
 HANCOCK PARENTS? GRANDPARENTS or other 
 family member to see how you are related! 
 (BUT REMEMBER YOU
 CANNOT VIEW LIVING FAMILY RECORDS UNTIL 
 YOU JOIN)
 Where possible I have added source notes 
 and photos for each person and recorded 
 the type and
 number of the document I found to verify 
 the information.
  
 Inevitably there are many gaps and most 
 likely some errors in this brief family 
 tree such as wife's
 maiden names, birth dates, spouse’s names 
 , marriage dates and deaths. If yo can 
 help fill the gaps
 it would be greatly appreciated.

You can phone,text, write or simply email 
 me at:lesleysmith100@hotmail.com  
  My Mobile is: 0428 281
 451 my home phone is : 5484 2253 
 I got out of the "rat race" in Melbourne 
 and moved to the beautiful country town 
 of Rochester in Dec
 2012. mY postal address is:
  16 Northcote Street Rochester Victoria 
 3561.
  My email address remain the same: 
 lesleysmith100@hotmail.com

Please request access to this website by 
 following the links above to ask for 
 permission to join.
 (Joining no $ needed - will allow you to 
 view all of the LIVING family members as 
 well!).
 I would love to hear from any other 
 family members who are interested in the 
 "Hancock/Smith"
 history,stories etc or if you can shed 
 any further light onto "OUR VERY OWN REAL 
 COLLINGWOOD
 HANCOCK/MARTIN: -AUSTRALIAN STORY" or my 
 DUKE + CLARKE ANCESTORS . So please have 
 a think about
 using this website to make a record of it 
 for your grandchildren and their 
 descendants to be able to
 share in the years to come.

For those many 1st cousin's (Hancock 
 side) of my mother's if you could please 
 assist me with your
 own parents and partners names, birth 
 dates, marriages or any ancestors names 
 along with your own
 descendant's branch of the family that 
 would be fantastic!

This is a job that no one family 
 descendant can do on their own, however 
 if we all work
 together with a common goal and share our 
 information here on this FREE WEBSITE 
 then this will be a
 fantastic FREE ASSET for all of your 
 descendants to use and continue on the 
 family legacy.Now
 If you have any photos of family members, 
 parents, or children etc you can either 
 upload them
 yourself once I give you access, or send 
 me a hard copy or email me a scanned 
 photo and I’m more
 than happy to load it up for you. 
 REMEMBER YOU will need to join to be able 
 to enter data or upload
 photos or documents.

Now sorry but on my own paternal side: 
 ie: all of my SMITH/ DUKE relatives if 
 you can you please
 help out I'd be really grateful?  Smith 
 is so darn hard to research conclusively 
 so if you have any
 information then I'd love it if you could 
 please pass it onto me.
 "Little Grandad" Ernest Smith came to 
 Australia in 1883 with his mother 'Esther 
 Jane Hallsworth' and
 his grandmother Isabella Smith. Ernest's 
 father -"John William Smith" came over 
 here a few months
 earlier on another ship to Australia but 
 he died just a few
 months after Isabella, Esther and Ernest 
 arrived in Australia from England in 
 1884. Their reason for
 coming to Australia is still a mystery 
 though? Possibly due to the downturn in 
 the textile and coal
 mining jobs in and around 
 Oldham,Lancashire Endland during that 
 period.

Ernest's mother- Esther Jane Smith(nee 
 Hallsworth) re-married in 1885 to a 
 William Foley and they
 then had ten children together that I 
 know of together . As Ernest was only 
 around 18 months old
 when his father died,William Foley would 
 have been like a father to him. William 
 Foley was also
 present at Ernest's wedding as shown on 
 Ernest Smith's marriage certificate dated 
 29th June 1903 to
 Matilda Maude Clarke (Clark).
  One of their children was David Ernest 
 Smith born Jan 1904. He married "Nellie 
 Helen Duke"(real
 birth name of:Ellen Josephine Duke) and 
 they had 5 children one of which was my 
 father David Ernest
 James Smith. As for his mother Nellie? 
 well what I do know is that Nellie was 
 NOT her real christian
 name but I think by process of 
 elimination:matching , birth dates, 
 electoral roll records she has to
 be:Ellen Josephine Duke!! She was one of 
 12 children of James Duke and Mary Duke 
 (nee Bell). My
 paternal nana has used various first 
 names, on electoral roles etc over the 
 years including: Nellie
 , Ellen & Helen.
 My Uncle Bill (Ernest William) Smith born 
 26th December 1938 was the eldest 
 surviving sibling
 of my father.
  
 PS: Could you please email any of your 
 own family members and tell them about 
 this website, so we
 can eventually get a family newsletter up 
 and running if there is enough interest? 
 And even if you
 are not interested yourself then would 
 you please tell your children, 
 grandchildren about this
 website as a source of information?
 If you have any questions about the 
 website please email me both through this 
 website and also via
 my hotmail address, that way I have 
 access to your direct email address to 
 make personal contact
 with you if you can help out or just so 
 we can chat. 
 Thanks for reading and I hope we can meet 
 again soon with a reunion if we get 
 enough interest?.

Try looking at the descendants of "GEORGE 
 WALTER HANCOCK SNR" or "John William 
 Smith" to get an idea
 or simply click on the drop down list of 
 names and select him to find yours or 
 your parents names to
 see how far I have gotten on my own…..

Please remember that: "OUR OWN STORIES" 
 are a great resource that a family can 
 have and really make
 family ancestry research much more 
 interesting!! However over time we must 
 remember that information
 can get muddled / changed or even 
 forgotten...........so its easy to record 
 your information or
 stories here for you and your own branch 
 of this Hancock/Smith family to treasure.

You are quite welcome to use this website 
 for you own family tree ie: You and your 
 partners family
 can be added as there is no limit to the 
 size or space of this website, 
 The only limit is photos and I am happy 
 to pay the small fee once we reach the 
 allowed maximum photo
 storage space!!
 So please think about helping me here at 
 this website because I rrally do think 
 our descendants
 deserve to know our stories too.
  
 How many times have you thought geez I 
 should have asked him/her mother father 
 uncle aunt? about
 that story you've been told and quite 
 often it becomes too late? Its the 
 STORIES we can put in this
 website that add character,& dimensions 
 to our descendants lives,so please think  
 about it ?
 Cheers Lesand give me a helping hnd with 
 your own branch
  Lesley Smith
 -Daughter of Joyce Smith (nee Hancock)& 
 Dave(David) Smith -

NB:REMEMBER YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO VIEW 
 ANY 'LIVING' RELATIVES DETAILS / PHOTOS 
 ETC HERE, UNLESS YOU
 JOIN THIS FREE WEBSITE BY CLICKING ON THE 
 LINK: TOP RIGHT AND EMAILING ME TO GET 
 YOU APPROVED.

**TIP****TO ENLARGE THIS SCREEN TO VIEW 
 PHOTOS OR SIMPLY TO READ MORE EASILY 
 SIMPLY CLICK ANYWHERE
 ON THE PAGE AND HOLD THE CONTROL BUTTON 
 DOWN ON YOUR KEYBOARD WHILST SCROLLING 
 YOUR MOUSE FORWARD TO
 ENLARGE TEXT OR PHOTOS TO MAKE THEM 
 EASIER TO READ!!.

Looking forward to your help with names, 
 dates photos stories and anecdotes to 
 share with our
 family. Enjoy your viewing  and please 
 email me your name and how you fit into 
 our familys tree, so
 if you wish to join here so you can carry 
 on with your own family branch- you can 
 do as much or as
 little as you like - its up to you??

I am also on Ancestry.com.au with a tree 
 named: 
 Hancock - Smith, George, Duke, Clarke, 
 Hallsworth- Australia Family Tree 
 however to view my work there you will 
 need access to a subscription to view 
 this BUT: - HERE ITS
 FREE!!!

Any queries or suggestions feel free to 
 contact me through my private email: 
 lesleysmith100@hotmail.com
 Cheers

Lesley Smith 
 16 Northcote Street
 Rochester Vic, 3561