Found this on a Tree.
Relationship: great, great grandparents Ernest Louis Meurer Born: 1829. Hessen-Kassel, Germany Occupation: bootmaker Died: 27 Jun 1900, Sydney, NSW Married: 18 Aug 1860, South Grafton, NSW to - Augusta Heisser* Born: 1832, Göttingen, Germany Died: 15 Mar 1908, Sydney, NSW * Various spellings of Augusta’s maiden name exist in different documents. Others include Helsser, Heipsen, Heiseke and Hesecke
Ernest Meurer, his wife Augusta and eldest daughter, Sophia, migrated to Australia on board the Armin, the last of the ships organised by William Kirchner to bring German settlers to Australia. The Armin left Bremen, Germany, at its port Bremerhaven on 5 Jul 1858, and after a stop at the Cape of Good Hope, arrived at Sydney on 8 Dec 1858. On board were 255 German passengers, listed by the Harbour Master as: immigrants from Germany; 174 male adults, 86 female adults, 12 boys and 18 girls. Alas individual records were lost in WW2 bombing of Bremen. The Armin was a 624ton clipper under the command of Captain E. Sommer. By 1860 Ernest Meurer and his family were settled in Grafton and a boot and shoemaker by trade he worked for John Chapman, soon managing his South Grafton branch. Later he took over this business himself. It was here at South Grafton in 1860 that Ernest married Augusta, although it appears that they were betrothed but not married in Germany (because of the cost) and had a daughter born before their emigration.
Another daughter, Frederica and a son, John were born and extended the family and Ernest and Augusta soon became a part of the well-established German community along the Clarence River. Ernest became a British subject in 1861, this being a requirement before purchasing Crown Land and voting. He moved his South Grafton business to Cowan St, then Skinner St. Later Ernest and family moved to Casino, then Ballina where he was bankrupted around 1886. Later Ernest and Augusta moved to inner city Sydney living in several suburbs, including Annandale and Surrey Hills, where they spent their final years. Son John was another bootmaker living and working nearby. In 1888 at Ballina, our great grandmother, younger daughter Agnes married Edward Hart, another bootmaker and the son of Thomas, himself a bootmaker who along with wife Agnes Mary had been born in Ireland but moved to Scotland as a child and grew up there before he married and migrated to Australia. What an odd melting pot of cultures the Clarence area was in the 19th century
NSW BMD has marriage Ernest Meurer to Augusta Helsser1860 Grafton NSW on Reg no: 1733
regards Val