Wenzel HAUSER 1807-?
On the birth and baptism record of Wenzel Hauser, the seventh and last child born to Konrad Hauser, a farm-hand in Nieder-Weisel, and Anna Margaretha nee Wilhelmi, there is a margin note ‘Australien’ where the date of death was customarily recorded.
Born on 4th May 18O7, the child was named after his paternal grandfather, who was still a Court Juror at that time and whose father before him had been Mayor of the village. The child’s mother was also from a family which had provided the village with jurists in the happier days before the changes in administration which followed the Napoleonic Wars of the late 18th century.
One of Wenzel’s brothers and three of his sisters died early in their lives, leaving only Christoph and Anna Elisabetha to help look after their 2 year-old brother when their mother died suddenly, age 31, in 18O9. The three children were orphaned when Konrad died five years later.
Anna Elisabetha married the burgermeisterr Ambrosius Schimpf in 182O when she was only 18; three of their six surviving children joined the exodus to Victoria after both parents died in their 4Os.
Wenzel was married on 1Oth June 1838 to Elisabetha, a daughter of Johannes Fett from the small hamlet of Oes, several km west of Nieder-Weisel. The couple had two boys, Philipp and Konrad, then four girls, including Juliana, during the next thirteen years. Of these six children, it is certain that Konrad migrated in 1857 and that Juliana followed in 1862. It is very likely that Philipp also came out to Victoria, but no record of his passage has been found as yet.
Just when Wenzel made the journey is uncertain, as he has not been identified on any of the lists of passengers which survive in the archives. It may be that he came out ahead of his daughter to make sure that accommodation would be ready for her. It is strange that Wenzel did not give permission when Juliana was married in 1864 – this was given by Konrad Marx of Nieder-Weisel, as her guardian; he was not related in any way.
No records at all of Wenzel’s movements have been found. Juliana lived with her family in the Rocky Lead district, and later in Daylesford before her death in 1887. Konrad lived out the remainder of his life in and around Ballarat. The Philipp who is thought to have been the other brother died in 1914 in the western districts town of Hamilton.
View Wenzel's Family Chart
