Emma Matilda Burn, was the second child and only surviving daughter of Robert Burn and his wife Janet Nielson. Emma was born in Tarraville, Victoria in 1855 and died in Melbourne November 27, 1936. She is buried in the Methodist section of the Ballarat New Cemtery with her husband George Christopher Grimes who died in 1935.
Emma's mother Janet died in 1865, possibly in childbirth. Emma lived in Tarraville up until 1869/1870. There after I believe Emma and her younger brother Robert Alfred either went to the Orbost region to live with their uncle Alan Burn and his family or Emma and Robert went to live in Melbourne with their grandmother Sarah Burn.
They may have also been raised by their mother's family.At this stage, I have not been able to find any further information about Emma's father Robert. There is no record of Robert's death in Australia. I have found that a Robert Burn departed for London in April 1869 on the Anglesey. This seems to fit the profile as Robert's father Jacob Henry Burn died in February 1869 and its likely Robert went back to deal with the Estate. I do know that on his mother, Sarah's death certificate, all of her sons are listed as deceased. Sarah died in August 1883. Emma is listed as the informant.
In 1875, Emma gave birth to a boy named George Christopher Burn. On the birth certificate it lists ''unknown" as the father. Twenty-year-old Emma was living with her grandmother Sarah Burn in Melbourne, when she became pregnant. She appears to have had the baby and then left him with a wet nurse. The arrangement did not work, and the wet nurse was able to track down Emma.
After having the baby returned to her, the next day she was said to have abandoned him in a park. Police were able to trace the baby to Emma and she was arrested and stood trial for desertion. She was sentenced to one-year hard labor in an industrial school. There are many articles on the story to read.
Once she was released in 1876, Emma married George Christopher Grimes (the father of the abandoned baby). It is not known what became of the baby she left in the park.
Emma and George moved to the west of Tasmania in the late 1890s. George is listed as the manager of the Curtin Davis Mine in Dundas. Later on, they moved to Tullah aka Mount Farrell and lived there for around 20 years. They left Tullah for Beaconsfield (also a mining town) in 1924. Emma is mentioned in the November 11, 1929 edition of The Tamar newspaper. George was appointed to the Beaconsfield hospital board in 1930
I am not sure when they moved back to Melbourne. At the time of Emma's death she was living at 21 Sebastopol Street North Caufield. The little cottage still stands today. Her death certificate mentions no children, so George Christopher junior may have been adopted.
There are a number of newspaper articles which mention Emma and George and their life in western Tasmania. Not surprisingly, Emma was community minded, kind and full of spirit - the Hone genes continue through the generations.
