Eliza FORLONG & her son William FORLONGE
| With some TEMPLETONS thrown in...
You are welcome to use the facts on this page, so long as you get them CORRECT! And a small acknowledgement of the volunteer Euroa Historical Society would be nice please. After TWO YEARS & ONGOING RESEARCH into the Forlong family, the conclusion is that before 1800 in the Scottish parish records they are mostly FUrlongs, but after 1800, they are mostly FOrlongs. It was ONLY William, son of John and the famous Eliza and William's descendents who use ForlongE. When one of William's daughters, married a second Forlong cousin, she became Florence Forlong. At this stage, the story about the Comte, Count, French vineyards, Huguenots, etc., etc., with the blessing of a current family member, are myth, to perhaps cover up the the fact that the earliest known family member to be found so far, James, was born out of wedlock to James Furlong and Isobell Campbell in 1722. The Scottish naming pattern is strongly adhered to, excepting Isobell...there is not one Isobell in the family. James born in 1722 did very well for himself and the Forlong family were wealthy in their own right. Used as a guide in the first instance was Nancy Adams's, Saxon Sheep and Frank Clune's, In Search of the Golden Fleece. Both a credit to the authors. There is no known photo of Eliza Forlong, but there is one of Janet Templeton believed to be taken c1826. The whole of the family were successful business people back in Scotland and married into well connected families. We have uncovered houses of a grand scale, some still standing, churches that are 900 years old, connected to the Janet Templeton's daughter, burial grounds that hold the family - some having been built over, lone graves and graves in India and South Africa. We have unravelled many myths handed down over the centuries and found truths and untruths. Very briefly....After searching out and collecting up, the best fine wool merinos in Saxony, Eliza Forlong sent William off to Australia where he settled at Tasmania in 1829. After collecting another flock she travelled with her husband and other son Andrew, along with her sister in law, Janet Templeton and Janet's nine children to Launceston Tasmania on the Czar, arriving in 1831. Janet went on to NSW and settled there. In 1834 John, Eliza and Andrew returned to England on the Norval to press for land for Andrew. John died in London soon after their arrival. It is known that Eliza was in Glasgow in 1841 and returned to Tasmania in 1844 aboard the Ben Nevis whence she followed her sons to the Port Phillip district and lived with William, firstly at Woodstock near Whittlesea and then Seven Creeks Station Euroa which he aqquired in 1851 from Barnes & Holland. Eliza Forlong died here in 1859 and is buried, at the foot of the Garden Range overlooking the homestead of Seven Creeks Station. Eliza did NOT import Saxon sheep into Victoria. Legend has it that Andrew went off to America, married an American woman, lived there and died there. Andrew married a Scottish widow in Glasgow and moved to America in 1846 where they lived for around 20 years. They slipped back into England and lived there quietly for more than 20 years. Andrew died in Devonshire in 1899 and is buried in a churchyard there. He has a gravestone. There were many highlights during the research, but this might be my favourite. A gravestone with the name Andrew Forlong. He was THE most successful in the whole Forlong/Templeton family. We have the wills, certificates etc. A PILE of information and proof. I am sure there is still some more though...somewhere. One of the Templeton boys is buried in an unmarked grave in Wangaratta Vic cemetery but we know the spot. Another is buried in an UNKNOWN lone grave somewhere in northern NSW, on land owned by his cousin William Forlonge. Back in Scotland, John Forlong's brother William, known as William of Wellshot, was NOT born at Wellshot, he lived there in the latter part of his life. It still stands in 2011. He lived at Glespin previous to that. AND of the famous fine wool Saxon Sheep - three flocks remain to this day, one in New Zealand, one in Victoria and one in Tasmania. Amazingly, descendents of the Taylor family who purchased half of William Forlonge's flock and the property, Kenilworth, in the mid 1830s, still have descendents of the Forlong sheep, as well as Kenilworth, and Winton, the Taylor's original property. We could branch into their fabulous history..... |
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