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CHILDREN OF SUSANNA AND WILLIAM SHELLEY

7.1 ELIZABETH MARY SHELLEY (1828-1912)

[Picture]
Elizabeth Mary Oakes nee Shelley.

Elizabeth Mary Shelley was born on 31 March 1828 in Parramatta and on 12 April 1848,
at Christ Church St. Lawrence, Sydney, married John Leigh Oakes who was born on 6 May 1826,
the twelfth of the fourteen children of Francis Oakes, one of Rowland Hassall's companions on the
journey as missionaries to Tahiti, and his wife, Rebecca nee Small. The ceremony was conducted
by Elizabeth's cousin, Reverend James Samuel Hassall (this was the first wedding he had
conducted). She was a niece of Mary Ann, wife of George Oakes, John's elder brother. John Oakes
was a grazier and was living at the property owned by his brothers George and Francis, Oak Park
near Crookwell, when he was married.

Living at Oak Park was not without its adventures. Bushrangers were a hazard and one of them, John Gilbert, known locally was ''happy Jack'' because he was always whistling, was
employed as a horsebreaker at ''Oak Park'' before he turned to crime. Once when he was at Oak

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