A website dedicated to the Wagner and Weis
German Pioneering Families who emigrated to the Toowoomba district of Queensland and the Mudgee district of New South Wales
Genealogy and Family Tree
Included in this website are the
stories of the Wagner and Weis families with a link to
the descendants of each of the families. There is also a
narrative of the political and cultural climate of the Toowoomba area at the
time of German settlement. There are also photo albums of both
families as well as historical photos of Toowoomba from the 1860s to the
1890s. Clicking on 'Family Tree' will take you to my genealogical
database on the Rootsweb World Connect server and clicking on e-mail animation will
prepare an email message if you wish to share information or ask questions.
I have created this web page
as a memorial my ancestors and their descendants. I believe it
is important for one to understand who and where their ancestors came from.
Pioneers from all parts of the world settled Australia. What
made them immigrate and settle where they did is open to speculation, because
through the generations stories get changed or not passed on. History
gives us some appreciation of the conditions in their old homeland at the
time of immigration and factors that played a part in their choice of new
homeland.
In the late 1990s Wendy White
published a comprehensive book on the Bauer family titled ‘Friedrich
and Katarina Bauer – Ancestors and Descendants’.
This work covered the Wagner branch of my ancestral tree through the Bauer
connection but had little on my Great Grandfather Heinrich (Henry) Wagner.
I set about, through the world of the Internet, to discover any further
linage back into Germany.
My cousin and I then turned our
attention to the Weis branch of the family tree. All we had
to go on was a paper clipping from some time ago, featuring story on Christy
and Katarina Weis, a Grand Uncle and Aunt and some family history.
With this basic information and the Internet we were able to make contact
with many people who could offer information. We were
able to locate the towns John and Eva Weis immigrated from Germany and
a great deal of family linage on Eva’s family of Nuss for which I thank
Daph Heiner. Through the efforts of Wal Bayliss in tracing John’s brother Peter’s family and research back into Germany, I was able complete the whole family history.
Photo Album
I was quite intrigued some years
ago in an old family photo album that came to light. In this
album there were many photographs ranging from 80 years to 130 years.
There was, like so many old family albums, no indication as to the identity
of the subjects in the photographs. What little recollection
my mother had to the names of these people was due to her father identifying
some of them to her many years ago. With a little logic and
conclusion we were able to identify some of the people in other photographs
but many still lay unidentified. Through the years what knowledge
I have gained of my ancestors I was able to identify some more.
I have complied and published on this website a range of these photos with
what I concluded was their identity. I am indebted to Jeanette
Byfield of Mudgee for photographs of Peter Weis and family who settled
in New South Wales.
Alan Phillips
[ Wagner ] [ Weis ] [ Toowoomba ]