Pierre Leon Ivanoff (1850 -1907)

Melbourne became a home to Pierre Leon (also known as Louis) Ivanoff.  

Who was he? Did he jump from the ship or tried his luck at goldfields?  Was he from Russia or any other country? 

It is not known when an how he arrived, but he married Emma Rooney in 1876 in Melbourne.  

Two kids were born in succession - Peter Francis Ivanoff (1876, died in 1877) and Olga Louise Ivanoff (1878-1923).  Olga Louise married George McNamara in 1896. 

It appears from the article below that the couple separated by early 1880. Emma "for the past few months had been living apart from her husband, lodged with a blacksmith named John Griffiths". Emma died in May 1880. 

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/197539554/emma-ivanoff

INQUESTS. (1880, May 24). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 7. Retrieved October 1, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5972360

Did Pierre Leon remarry?  In Melbourne's records there is another girl Dogmar Louise Ivanoff (1883-1928) who married Archibald McEwan in 1902. Since she was born after the death of Emma, then Pierre fathered her to another woman.  BDM Victoria does not have a record of this marriage and Dogmar's birth.

1885 -" A charge of assault preferred by a man named Leon Ivanoff, who resides in Little Leichhardt
street"
1885 'POLICE NEWS.', The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), 15 January, p. 6. , viewed 02 Oct 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article196961350

"The evidence of Leon Ivanoff, better known as Wilson, was taken to the effect that on the day in question he went to Rigaldi's house for the purpose of obtaining lodgings"

1887 'LILYDALE POLICE COURT.', The Lilydale Express (Vic. : 1886 - 1897; 1914 - 1956), 2 December, p. 2. , viewed 02 Oct 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article249373386

Pierre Leon died in 1907 and burried in the same grave as Emma. 

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/197539555/leon-ivanoff

1871

1871 'THE RUSSIAN CORVETTE HAYDAMACK.', Portland Guardian and Normanby General Advertiser (Vic. : 1842 - 1843; 1854 - 1876), 27 March, p. 3. (EVENINGS), viewed 01 Oct 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article65424532