22 March 1866 Lord Street Launceston Tasmania Australia David Shepherd King Daisy Grace

Grace Maria Freakley was born at Bentley Hay, near Walsall, Staffordshire, England, on 22 Mar 1866. Her parents were Joseph Freakley (born 1835) and Grace Maria Williams (1837-1898). Grace had older twin sisters, Alice Mary and Annie Gertrude, who were born in 1862, and a younger brother Ernest Arthur.

When Grace was 16 the family migrated to Australia, arriving as unassisted passengers aboard the SS Liguria in Melbourne, Victoria, in Oct 1882. Her father was aged 47, her mother 45, her sisters were 20 and her brother was nine. Ernest died in Launceston a few weeks later, on 24 Nov 1882.

Joseph applied to the Education Department for a teaching position in Jul 1884, but he may not have been successful as he ran a toy and fancy repository at 153 Charles Street, Launceston. Dressmaking was also done on the premises, probably by Grace. At the time of the Exhibiton she was a soprano in the Exhibition choir.

Both twins married; Alice to George Samuel Warren in Mar 1886 at Westbury, and Annie to John Jordison in Jul 1899 at Ulverstone. Grace's mother died in 1898 at Ulverstone.

Grace, a dressmaker, was living in Scottsdale in 1903. She met David Shepherd King, an accountant of Scottsdale, and married him on 11 Oct 1904 at Devonport. They had a daughter, Daisy Grace, on 21 Feb 1906 at the Victoria Hospital, Launceston. The family moved to Ararat, Victoria, where David was a photographer.

John Davies Oct 2005