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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: stoney on Sunday 23 July 17 19:32 BST (UK)
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I've returned to one of my 'brick walls' and am still trying to trace an errant relative in my family tree who, thanks to information from a helpful member of RC a while back, apparently ended up dying in Australia, hence no death certificate to be found in British BMD's. There was belated notice posted in his home town newspaper in Carlisle indicating his death and that of another relative on the same day in Castlemaine.
Another RC'er has found mention of what may be the other relative on an ordinary passenger list leaving Britain for Australia, but there's no entry for my 'man of mystery'!
I assumed they'd gone out to join the gold rush but I'm seriously clutching at straws now and wondering if he was sentenced to transportation - are there any lists he'd appear on? (and where would I begin to look?)
Any help or advice greatly received! ;)
Regards,
Stoney
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This any good? FindMyPast and Ancestry also have some - just Google "Convict lists Australia" or similar
https://convictrecords.com.au/
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This any good? FindMyPast and Ancestry also have some - just Google "Convict lists Australia" or similar
https://convictrecords.com.au/
Thanks, groom - but no luck here :(
I will try on Ancestry next time I'm in the library.
Sooner or later this brick wall has to fall.........doesn't it? ;)
Stoney
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You could try the Hulk Registers on Ancestry.
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Hi stoney,
As your request seems to be about Australian history and resources, why have you posted in Common Room?
Would it not be seen by more 'local eyes' on the Australian board.
To save us reading through all your threads, could you link the one which relates to this particular query?
Is it the man HART, or MEYER?
Sue
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Hugh HART aged 54 and Archibald MAYER aged 36 arrived together in July 1854 on the ship Mermaid into Victoria.
Debra :)
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Hugh HART aged 54 and Archibald MAYER aged 36 arrived together in July 1854 on the ship Mermaid into Victoria.
Debra :)
1854 ... to Victoria .... so they were not transported as convicts.
JM
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NO, convict transportation ended before 1854. You can check passenger lists on the relevant state archives site (NSW State Records or Public Records Office of Victoria).
I'd also recommend checking TROVE newspapers (which are free) for any mention of their lives in Australia.
Regards,
Michelle
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Hi Stoney,
Here is Victoria BDM https://online.justice.vic.gov.au/bdm/ It's free to search and you can use wildcards (eg *) . You can also download an image immediately by clicking on the index entry (and using a credit card).
Notice that it also gives parents' names on death index (if known) which makes it easier than UK to find the correct person. And if you click on the index entry it will give you more information such as their age and where born (if known).
Ros
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Hi stoney,
As your request seems to be about Australian history and resources, why have you posted in Common Room?
Would it not be seen by more 'local eyes' on the Australian board.
To save us reading through all your threads, could you link the one which relates to this particular query?
Is it the man HART, or MEYER?
Sue
"If you can't think of what category, country or county your message should come under, then perhaps you could put your message here!"
That's why I put it here - I was just asking for advice about where to look: e.g. Transportation lists FROM Britain, or Convict arrivals IN Australia. So, where would you suggest - UK pages or Australia?
Stoney
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You will get a lot more knowledge in the Australian boards.
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I'm sure you will get good information from both boards Stoney.
It is admirable that you wish to search for yourself :)
But why not just tell us a bit about the person you are looking for - name, dob, parents - and we will all help and see what we can find.
Ros
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I'm sure you will get good information from both boards Stoney.
It is admirable that you wish to search for yourself :)
But why not just tell us a bit about the person you are looking for - name, dob, parents - and we will all help and see what we can find.
Ros
OK - here you go:
Archibald Meyers/Myers/Meyre (different spellings on different documents but all the same individual) - last record in the UK was 1851 census for Wetheral, Cumberland, aged 36, born Scotland. Wife Margaret (Bulman) with 9 children. I found a record of a further child born 1853. His wife remarried in 1857 and I was unable to trace any further details of what had happened to Archibald until a kind RC'er spotted this in a 1855 edition of the Carlisle Patriot:
"Carlisle Patriot July 28 1855
On the 15th December 1854 Mr Hugh Hart, at Castlemaine, Australia, late of Garden Street, London Road, aged 55 years: Same day and place, Archibald Myers, nephew of the above."
(I've previously tried to find out more - see: http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=436028.msg2998727#msg2998727 but that was a good few years ago, a recent enquiry from one of my family members prompted me to try and pick up the search again)
Hugh Hart is mentioned as Archibald's Uncle - but until this point I've not heard any other connection with this person!? So I'm trying to figure out where he fits in.
It would seem they both went out to Australia lured by the gold rush. It must have been quite a desperate thing to up-sticks and leave a wife and 10 children behind - that's why I also wondered if he'd been sent as a convict. Another RC'er had searched passenger lists and at that time could only trace Hugh Hart, but today I see there's confirmation they both arrived in Victoria on the same ship (Thank you, Dundee!!)
I'm very grateful for the generosity and experience of others here and it would be good to resolve this once and for all - if that's at all possible! I'm glad that he might at last have been found, even if he died so far from home.
Many thanks to all of you!
Stoney
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I think this thread would really benefit from being on the Australia Board.
The resources listed on the sub-boards on the Australia Board are excellent.
JM
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Re Archibald, the nephew ...
The Carlisle Journal, Friday July 27, 1855, page 5.
Deaths
…. At Castlemain, Australia, on the 15th of December, 1854, Mr Hugh Hart, late of Garden Street, London-road, in this city, aged 55 years, same day and place, Mr Archibald Myers, nephew of the above, aged 41 years.
So Archie was 41 years when he died.
JM
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Here is Victoria BDM https://online.justice.vic.gov.au/bdm/ It's free to search and you can use wildcards (eg *) . .....
Currently there's a 404 error on that link.
The page you are looking for cannot be found
Welcome to the Department of Justice and Regulation website.
The page you want to visit may have moved, changed address or no longer exists
Perhaps try the following : :)
https://online.justice.vic.gov.au/bdm/indexsearch.doj
Hugh and Archibald's death registrations are listed there, consecutive reference numbers.
JM
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Speculating that omeone looking for Hugh may have then discovered the sad news and in turn notified family back in Carlisle.
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/4805188 5 March 1855 Argus.
CARLISLE -Hugh Hart will oblige J. Wilkinson, by leaving his address at the office of this paper.
JM
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Sorry about the incomplete link for Vic BDM Stoney :(
It is so very sad that they died (were killed?) on the same day so soon after arrival.
I have looked at Inquests in Victoria on http://www.rootschat.com/links/01kgm/ without success.
I have looked on trove digital newspapers for a killing or accident or their names in mid December 1854 http://trove.nla.gov.au/ without success.
However December 1854 is a very famous date in Australian history and I can't help wondering if being gold miners they were involved in the Eureka Stockade. This occurred on December 3 1854 in Ballarat when the miners protested against miners' fees without representation. About 30 were killed but others were wounded and went into hiding and died later. Here is a little background
http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/eureka-stockade.
Ros
adding : they are not listed here among those killed at Eureka Stockade http://www.ballaratgenealogy.org.au/ballarat-history/eureka/item/342-deaths-at-eureka
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They did not die on the same day, Hugh 54 yrs on 14 Dec 1854 and Archibald 40 yrs on 15 Dec 1854 and both in the Castlemaine Hospital, cause of death for them both, scurvy and dysentery. I don't intend to sound uncaring, but their deaths would not rate a mention in the press of the day. Nothing for place of burial.
http://www.australiancemeteries.com.au/vic/mt_alexander/castlemaine.htm
Scroll down.....
The actual number of burials is not fully known as it is believed that some of the earlier burials were not recorded as per the information on a number of the earlier death certificates in Victoria (1853 - late 1860s) where the Deputy Registers of the areas did not list the cemeteries on the death certificates. The column was left blank.
Possibly their diet on their journey to Australia may have been deficient in Vit C.
http://www.egold.net.au/biogs/EG00117b.htm
Sickness
Disease was rife upon the goldfields, where poor sanitation meant that refuse and excrement were liable to end up in the rivers that supplied drinking water for those on the diggings. Dysentery, typhus and other contagious diseases were all represented. The monotonous diet of mutton and damper did not help the health of diggers, and it is probable that many people, especially during the first years of a rush, were deficient in essential nutrients and vitamins. .
Cando
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Cando - thank you so much for this information! What a sad end for both of them. Archibald had left a wife and ten children to travel to the other side of the world, presumably to try his luck in the gold rush - he must have been pretty desperate to go to such lengths.
This finally helps to understand why he disappeared from UK records and draws a line under things.
(Thank you for all your time and help with this, and I'm sorry I haven't replied earlier - unfortunately I've been preoccupied with sorting out an elderly relative who was taken into hospital this last week and also helping care for my brother who has advanced Alzheimers, so I'm afraid Rootschat has had to take a backseat for me. Thanks again for all your help!)
Regards,
Stoney