Thursday, June 01, 2006

Family History BINGHAM MUNTZ FURZE

Many members of the Muntz family came from County Down, Northern Ireland to Victoria between 1852 and 1863 with the surname MUNCE and immediately began using Muntz with an umlaut. The were protestants from at least the 1820s and the surname MUNTZ is originally Jewish. Family legends say we came to Ireland with William of Orange and that we were from Alsace Lorraine. The men were all staunch Freemasons. Two brothers Joseph and John MUNCE married two sisters Margaret and Susannah BINGHAM. Many of their adult children came to Australia - firstly living at Woodend, Victoria - except TB Muntz. Three sons of Joseph Munce and Margaret Bingham came out: Joseph Muntz, William Muntz & Thomas Bingham Muntz. They left left behind siblings: Newell MUNCE and Margaret MUNCE m Capt NELSON. [Siblings Eliza Jane died 1838 of TB and John Munce died 1859 in a shipwreck.] Children of John MUNCE and Susannah Bingham who came out were: Joseph Muntz, Hugh Muntz, John Muntz, Susan m John STUART, Eliza Jane widow of William STOCKDALE. [The only sibling who did not immigrate were William James MUNCE/MUNTZ a ship's captain who visited his sister Susan at Woodend, and died in Perth] Many photographs and details of the lives of these people on a geocities free web site.