13 March 1863 'Clydeville' 29 Lyttleton Street Tasmania Australia Albert Walter Biggs Fred Harold, Bessie Winifred, Charles Clyde, Alfred Edwin, Leonard Walter, Reginald Allan, Lillie Evelyn May, Oscar Herbert, Winifred & Blanche

Mrs Ada Emma Biggs was the wife of (Albert) Walter Biggs. Born on 13 Mar 1863 in the district of Port Sorell, she was the fifth child of William Stokes (c.1828-1906) and Eliza Ann Lacey (1834-1873) who were married in 1855. Eliza, the daughter of a convict, died after the birth of her ninth child, when Ada was 10 years old. William married a widow, Ellen Leech, in 1876.

Ada Stokes married Walter Biggs on 15 Dec 1886 at the residence of her parents, 'Parkerville', Elphin Road, Launceston. They had ten children between 1888 and 1909. Their second child Bessie died of peritonitis on 7 Jun 1907 when she was only 17, but the others spread far and wide. Fred, born in 1888, moved to Sydney; Charles, 1891, went to Melbourne; Alfred, 1893, became a minister in Scottsdale; Leonard, 1896, went to Perth; Reg, 1897, was a journalist and served in the First World War; Oscar, 1904, taught at The Hutchins School; Winifred, 1907, was bursar, registrar and headmaster's secretary at The Friends' School and Blanche, 1909, was a doctor in Papua and then Brisbane. Ada died aged 93 on 12 Sep 1956 and was buried with her husband and daughter Bessie at the Carr Villa Cemetery, Launceston.

Ada's husband Walter, her father and stepmother William and Ellen Stokes, sister Martha Stokes and brother William Lacey Stokes are all in the Family Album.

John Biggs & Marion Sargent Jan 2008