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Research in Other Countries => New Zealand => New Zealand Completed Requests => Topic started by: Elizajb on Monday 27 April 15 11:36 BST (UK)
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Hi All,
I have come to a bit of a dead end in my search for John Easton, a miner, formerly of Bathgate, Linlithgow, Scotland and would really appreciate any ideas to try and trace him.
He was born in 1857 to parents Henry Easton and Janet Sheriff (they appear on several Ancestry trees) and married Barbara Inglis in 1881 in Bathgate. They had five children and appear on the census records for Bathgate in 1891. John was the informant at his father's death in 1892.
In 1894, Barbara emigrated with her children to New Zealand, but her husband John was not with them. I assumed that he had already emigrated to New Zealand to pursue mining but I have not been able to match him to any electoral records or any NZ death records.
Barbara and the children lived in Christchurch and she shows in the electoral records from 1896 working as a laundress. John is not with her.
I checked the death records in Scotland but can find no record of a death for this John and when Barbara died in 1942, she was listed as a widow on her death record.
I cannot be sure that John actually came to New Zealand, that was an assumption based on the emigration of his family. Can anyone cast any light on my problem? I'm trying to trace his death and perhaps whether he and Barbara were still together after 1894.
Many thanks,
Regards Eliza.
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Might not be of much help but I noted that on the passenger list the clerk wrote "wife" for women travelling with their man but "mother" for those women who were without a partner but who had children. In addition she worked as a laundress, a common occupation for women supporting a family. Hints that he might have died in the UK.
Her headstone at Bromley reads "Our mother, Barbara Ingles EASTON, 1857-1942". The City Council Cemetery database names her Barbara Inglis EASTON, a widow aged 85.
Alan
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Hi Eliza
I agree with what Alan has said.
There is a second listing for the family > at familysearch.org ... NZ Immigration Passenger Lists.
It's not terribly helpful though. Firstly they're listed as "EUSTON" - it does give christian names for the sons, and confirms the family were destined for Lyttelton (Canterbury). The index shows "B. EUSTON" as being "married" but that's probably an assumption (on the part of the indexer), given she's shown as "Mrs" on the immigration list.
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/160792
I checked the crew list for this 1894 voyage of the "Gothic" to see if John EASTON had maybe worked his passage to NZ ... couldn't see any sign of him though.
~ Lu
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Hi Eliza ... just a thought.
Might Barbara and her children have come to NZ to be close to other family members ??
[It seems a huge undertaking to have moved from the other side of the world with small children.
Also, once here, she resided in central Christchurch. If her husband had, or was to join her, then his occupation as a miner, would likely have precluded them settling in Christchurch. ]
~ Lu
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Hi Lu & Alan,
Scuse the delay (work) in replying. Both of you make good points I had not thought of. I have checked the ScotlandsPeople site for possible deaths of John Easton without success but will do so again, casting my net more globally.
It is possible that if he died then Barbara may have come to New Zealand to other relatives. She is my current person of interest in my research into the Easton family so I have not yet started on her siblings, but now will do a bit of an overview search of them to see if any emigrated to New Zealand.
Another look at the electoral rolls shows that she was recorded as a widow in 1911, but previously had nothing noted with regard to her marital status. Whether that means she was really a widow or had decided after 7 years that it was reasonable to call herself one if John had deserted them is the question. It does seem likely that he died, so I'll pursue that avenue as thoroughly as I can first.
I've checked old newspapers which might have mentioned the family in Scotland but found nothing I could conclusively pin down to this John Easton in particular. There are a couple mentioned who were miners after Barbara had emigrated but at this point I can't tell whether they were her John or another one.
I'll have a fossick around with regard to the possibility of a relative being in New Zealand and let you know what I find.
Many thanks for the thoughts,
Regards Eliza.
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He was born in 1857 to parents Henry Easton and Janet Sheriff (they appear on several Ancestry trees) and married Barbara Inglis in 1881 in Bathgate. They had five children and appear on the census records for Bathgate in 1891. John was the informant at his father's death in 1892.
Hi again Eliza
Just poking around further, and decided to check those Ancestry trees. :)
One of them has an image of the death certificate for Janet EASTON.
Linlithgow
EASTON - Janet - 68 years
Widow of Henry EASTON (Coal Miner)
Died: 13 July 1902 - at 30 North Street, Bathgate
Parents: John SHERRIFF / Jane nee MARTIN (both dec'd.)
Informant to Death: John EASTON, son (present).
[Source: Mollon family tree ]
~ Lu
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Do you have access to the 1901 and 1911 Scotland census' ?
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Hi Eliza
Can see Janet EASTON and son on 1901 Scotland census (but no sign of John EASTON (bc 1857))
1901 - Linlithgow - Bathgate
EASTON - Janet - 65
EASTON - William - 24 - labourer (colliery)
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Hi Lu,
Wonderful, wonderful - thankyou very much indeed!! That answers one big question.........he was alive when Barbara emigrated.
A fresh pair of eyes sure does help pick up the pieces I miss, I had seen the other trees but clearly didn't read them all properly......thankyou again.
Now - I've just spent some time on ScotlandsPeople and combed both the 1901 and 1911 census records for John. There were several (I searched in all areas in case he had moved) but none seem to match the John I want. None was born in the right place at the right time and I made sure to buy the images to check for details. So with no result on that, I then checked the England census records in case he was mining in Durham or Cumbria or working elsewhere, but once again, no match, although there were several John Eastons.
I then went back to ScotlandsPeople and searched death records from 1902-1957 (assuming he would not have lived beyond 100 years) both under his full name, plus name variants, then his christian name with expected age and mother's maiden name. No match I'm afraid.
I also googled and checked for mining accidents in the areas around Linlithgow but no result.
So, if Barbara was accurately described as a widow in the 1911 electorals, John must have died between 1902-1911. However, if they separated by 1894 when she emigrated (taking into account the headstone details that Alan found which do not mention a husband.....thanks very much Alan) then John may well have still been alive beyond 1911.
He could have emigrated somewhere but gone home at the final illness of his mother, or, he may have gone to sea and been away from time to time.
I do recall when I checked the newspapers that there was the occasional mention of a John Easton, miner, in the area who seemed to be in minor bother for drinking etc so I'll have another look at those and see if I can match that person to any other local records. The name is not really rare which is a bit of a nuisance.
Still working on the siblings of Barbara, there were a few of them.
Thanks once again Lu and Alan for taking the time to help, sometimes I "can't see the wood for the trees!!"
Regards Eliza.
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Sometime in the next two days I intend to go to the Woolston Cemetery to photograph one of my own family's graves. I'll call into Bromley and see if I can get the same for Barbara.
Cheers
Alan
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Oh brilliant, thanks Alan, that would be great if you have time.
Regards Eliza.
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Grave photos taken and forwarded.
Alan
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Thankyou very much Alan, that's great. Very good of you.
Regards Eliza.
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Hi there, I am a great great grandchild of Barbara Ingles Easton and also have been trying to find the grave to John Easton (I thought I was the only person trying to do this ha ha)
Barbara's daughter Mary Ingles Daniel (nee Easton) was my great grandmother.
More info soon
Andrew Morison
Christchurch New Zealand
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I am reliably informed that Barbara Ingles Easton was daughter of Alexander Ingles/Inglis and Barbara Wishart.
I have a photo here of Barbara if anyone is interested.
a
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Hi Andrew
I'm sure Eliza will be interested in your photo and any other information you might have. She will have been notified of your posting and will reply on this board. Otherwise you can PM her direct.
Keep warm.
Alan
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Hi Alan,
I'll come back to you as I'm on my way out in a minute, but my info has Alexander Inglis married to Barbara Brown 1847.
I still am none the wiser about what happened to John Easton.
Regards Eliza.
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Oops! That's Andrew (not Alan), sorry,
I've had a look at the info I have for Barbara and can see that her record of marriage gives her mother's maiden name as 'Wishart' as you say. However, her birth record gives it as 'Brown', so not sure whether her mother had been previously married, or, if because her mother was deceased at the time of her marriage, Barbara may have been mistaken in her info.
The former seems more likely but will need to look into it.
Regards Eliza.
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Hi Andrew,
PM sent.
Regards Eliza.
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Hi! Did you have any luck in your search for the grave of John Easton?
Thanks, hope youre doing ok!
Andrew
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Hi Andrew,
No, I've had no luck at all on that. What about you? Any progress or clues?
The fact that he was present at the death of his mother does make me wonder whether he may have remained in Scotland - in those days it probably would have been less likely that the average person would emigrate and then return home for a visit.
Regards Eliza.
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Hi Eliza, no i havent had any luck with this sorry, it's been a lot warmer at nights and I've been out in the garden and busy at work ha ha.
I am hopeing to document as much of my family history for my kids before I die, I just wish I could talk to my grandparents and great grandparents and ask them all these questions ha ha
I hope you are well,
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Hi, me again, did you have any luck finding details or grave of John Easton? Thanks
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Have you tried looking further in the UK somewhere for a death outside of Scotland?
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Hi All,
I've got it at last!!!!!!!!!!
Decided to have another attempt at John's death today and once again combed the census and death records in Scotland, given that it was the last sighting I have of him.
After much mucking around, I have finally found John's death. He died in hospital in Leith in 1936 and there is no doubt of it being him due to the naming of his wife Barbara.
His usual address was given as Bathgate but the informant at his death was his brother William (of Leith).
So, a problem solved at last. Thanks to everyone who contributed with ideas, much appreciated.
Regards Eliza.
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Well done, Eliza. :) Pleased that you've finally managed to solve this one.
~ Lu
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Great result - well done!
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Hi Eliza, i know this is a long shot but do you have any grave details if any for John Easton ?? He is the last of my great great grandparents and the only one i don't have a photo of the grave. I visited his wifes grave in the Bromley Cemetery in Christchurch NZ tonight and gave it a tidy up. Hope you are well
Andrew
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Hello Eliza, hi it's me again from New Zealand. Sorry but where did you find the passenger listing for Barbara Ingles Easton and her children travelling from the UK to New Zealand in 1894 on the RMS Gothic? I am having trouble locating this list for my records here.
Thanks and I hope you are well
Andrew Morison
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Found on FindMyPast site about 6 years ago in their collection Passenger Lists Leaving UK 1890-1960.
At the time I had a subscription to FindMyPast.
Also on the first page of this topic is a post which gives a link to the Family Search record for the family's emigration. The link doesn't work any more but if you go to the New Zealand passenger lists on FamilySearch, you'll be able to find it, albeit incorrectly spelt (as the rootschat member on the first page points out).
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A snippet about your (?) Mrs. Easton [widow in 1924]:
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TS19241009.2.65?end_date=31-12-1979&items_per_page=10&phrase=2&query=barbara+easton&snippet=true&start_date=01-01-1899&title=AMBPA%2cAG%2cASHH%2cEG%2cGLOBE%2cKAIST%2cLT%2cNCGAZ%2cOO%2cCHP%2cSCANT%2cTS%2cSUNCH%2cTEML%2cTHD%2cWDA
Funeral notice for Barbara Easton:
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19420223.2.72.6?end_date=31-12-1942&items_per_page=10&phrase=2&query=barbara+ingles+easton&snippet=true&start_date=01-01-1942&title=AMBPA%2cAG%2cASHH%2cEG%2cGLOBE%2cKAIST%2cLT%2cNCGAZ%2cOO%2cCHP%2cSCANT%2cTS%2cSUNCH%2cTEML%2cTHD%2cWDA
Minniehaha.
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Thanks Minniehaha, the inquest was an interesting article. I wonder what happened to the young woman.
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Hello Eliza,
I have seen your questions about John Easton and his wife Barbara and your queries about her arrival in New Zealand.
Barbara was my great grandmother and I know her story well.
This is my first time on the site so I will wait your reply to see if I have actually reached you.
regards
Margot