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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: Paul E on Sunday 01 May 05 23:40 BST (UK)
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I've found the following ancestor in 1861 and am left wondering whether either the index or the transcription is right.
Mary CLARK is shown inthe index as born St Helenas Ireland, but the image seems to show St Helena Island.
IS there a St Helenas in Ireland?
Any advice welcome!
Paul
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Paul,
I would agree that it does look more like St Helenas Island.
Were there British settlers on St Helena in the South Atlantic (am I thinking of the right place ???) back then?
Debbie
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I agree, I think it is St Helena Island. Probably the one in the Atlantic? Wasn't this one of the places Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled to (along with Elba?) Am not sure about British settlement on the island but you would probably find something on the Net.
There is also a St Helena Island in Moreton Bay, Queensland, close to Brisbane. It used to be a leper colony. I doubt that this is the right one!
MarieC
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There is a St. Helena's Island near Beaufort, South Carolina. Does this fit your person?
deadants
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Paul,
Do you have her place of birth from any other censuses?
There are some good web sites about the Island of St Helena in the South Atlantic (IF that's what it is!).
Incidentally, there are quite a few people born in 'Saint Helena' in the online 1881 England & Wales census; often preceded by Jamestown/James Town which pinpoints it to the above island.
There is a good site at:
http://website.lineone.net/~sthelena/historiography.htm
Apparently Napoleon's exile there (1815-1821) - for which it tends mainly to be remembered - was just a minor part of its history. The major event seems to have been settlement by the East India Co in 1659 - settlers mostly kept plantations on the island, also there were slaves, and later there was a garrison there.
And there's a family history forum at:
http://website.lineone.net/~sthelena/familyhistory.htm
JAP
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That's all really helpful.
I don't have this couple in 1871 and I suspect they have died by then. I'll have to post an 1851 look-up request on the Northumberland board.
Must admit this lady came as quite a shock! Most of that line seemed to hail from the norh east. I'm trying to contain my excitement just in case it turns out to be St Helens in Lancashire! :)
Many thanks
Paul
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St Helena & Dependencies
St Helena is a lone mid-Atlantic island, a mere 47 square miles in size, situated at Lat. 15º 55’ S and Long. 5º 45’ W., 1200 miles west of Angola, its nearest mainland. The island’s capital and only town is Jamestown, with a population of 1,302, out of a total population of 5,644. There is as yet no airport.
St Helena was discovered by the Portuguese in 1502 and has been a British colony since it was first settled by the East India Company in 1659. It was home to the exiled Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte from 1815 until his death in 1821. In 1834, the island became a Crown Colony and is still a British Overseas Territory.
Ascension Island, 700 miles to the north west of St Helena, and Tristan da Cunha, 1200 miles to the south west, were occupied in 1815 and 1816. Ascension Island’s capital is Georgetown and the island has a total population of 1,122. Tristan da Cunha has a population of 284.
Under the provisions of the 2002 British Overseas Territories Act, the people of St Helena and Dependencies have finally been granted the right to full British citizenship and once again enjoy a right of abode in the United Kingdom.
:D
Hi, Found this for you. We very nearly had to do a tour of duty here but our children were to young to take down there for 3 years. :-\
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Clearly this is St. Helena in the South Atlantic. Britain garrisoned this island during the Napoleonic Wars.
Yes - there were British citizens being born there before 1881 - I have a record of one from 1835 but that is by no means the earliest.
Better to assume first that the most simple explanation is the one most likely to be true. That will save you from going off on a wild-goose chase as there are quite a few St. Helena this or that in the British Isles. 8)
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Thanks Hack and Lesanne. I've left a query on the St Helena FH site so that may get me some leads.
best wishes
Paul
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I'm pretty sure this would be St Helena in the South Atlantic. As others have said, there was a British army presence there during the late C18th and C19th.
There are some records for St Helena here in UK.
Firstly, www.1837online.com has the overseas BMD indexes. In the army chaplain and regimental indexes you will find various persons of the name Clark born in the first half of the C19th -- e.g. Frederick born 1818, Elizabeth 1837, Emily M 1839 etc. if you find any you like the look of, you can then apply for the birth certificate itself online via the GRO.
Also, the former India Office collection now in the British Library has British baptisms, marriages and burials on St Helena from 1767-1835.
Finally, there are also materials at TNA in Kew, for instance at shelf refs WO12 and WO97. You can check search the catalogue online here: http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/search.asp
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Thanks Grey Squirrel - that's a top tip as I didn't realise 1837Online had all this.
I'll need to apply for Mary's son's birth cert first to establish her maiden nae (should have explained this was her married name).
The British Library looks like it may be a good source, too.
Many thanks
Paul
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Hi Paul
Just a thought - couldn't be St Helier in the Channel Islands could it?
a little closer to home .... !
Annie
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Your nearest LDs centre has a lot of St. Helena stuff. I could not quite make out whther Mary on the 1861 census was 44 or 49. If she is 49 and so born 1812 then she may have been born Mary Stewart as a 1 year old child of that name left St. Helena on a named vessel in 1813. 8)
http://website.lineone.net/~sthelena/sthelenarecordslds.htm
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........and when you need to go and do a bit of 'on site' research Paul, this is the ship to get you there:
http://www.rms-st-helena.com/
I understand from friends that it is a great experience!
Jill
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Thank you Hack and Jill.
I've sent for the birth cert of Thomas Clark b South Shields in 1839, with a check on father Adam and mother Mary- this will hopefully get me a little further.
There's no marriage showing in Durham between 1837 and 1840, but there's an intriguing Adam Clark married in Southampton in June Qtr 1839 with a couple of Maria's on the page, and an Adam Clarke in June Qtr 1840 in Derby, with a Mary on the page. Ah well, at least I now won't have to wait a fortnight for the maiden name now that the GRO are back on track. Wait a minute ... is that the postman? :)
Not sure I've got the time or the dosh (despite masses of inclination!) to sail of to St Helena, Jill! If I ever do get there, I'll send Trystan and Sarah a postcard!
Paul
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Hi Paul,
I'm descended from Adam H. Clark's elder brother John who moved to Scotland. I would be glad to share my information with you.
Best wishes,
Robin
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Found them 1851 as Clarck, Mary, Adam and Thomas Dairy House, Hartley, Tynemouth, Northumberland.
HO107/2412/245/7
Looks like Island of St Helena to me on this one
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Is he Adam Hedley Clark?
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Just realised it's Thomas H 1851, there's a birth Thomas Henry South Shield 1838 Q4