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Old Photographs, Recognition, Handwriting Deciphering => Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition => Topic started by: SandraAust on Sunday 17 March 19 01:31 GMT (UK)
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Hi there,
I’m trying to identify the name circled on red on this document. It appears to be “Wm ...ing” but I really have no idea. The item refers to a cousin and I have been unable to identify any recognisable family member where the surname ends in “ing” for that time (1880’s)
Walter Rowley appears to be blaming a cousin being in collusion with his (Walter or Wm)’s sister and mentions an aunt but not by name.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
copyright image removed
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The first occurrence I thought “Stirling”. But not so sure when I look at the second.
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The ending g is quite different than the g in suffering. Could it be a y, or a really wackadoodle e?
Edit: I missed seeing the second red circle. I vote y! It also looks like they start with different letters....
Anything in the newspapers?
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I went and read that whole report.
Consider this: the cousin and aunt could be part of that whole delusion.
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Me again!
On the next page of the delusion conversation, a name (I think the one you are wondering about) appears again, and it looks a lot like Stirling, which Mckha saw.
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Let's say Stirling.
ROWLEY's mother or father has a sister, Mrs STIRLING whose son is William STIRLING.
This William, the delusional ROWLEY believes, is colluding with ROWLEY's sister. Right?
Perhaps you already have this, but according to a Tasmanian Name Index search for Walter ROWLEY (whose records show he was born in Tasmania and also that his father's name was James) it would appear his mother's maiden name was GALVIN if I am on the right track.
Tas.
Walter Benjamin ROWLEY
Father James
Mother Elizabeth GALVIN
24 Nov 1859
Registered 1859
At Westbury
So therefore you might possibly be seeking a STIRLING/GALVIN marriage or a ROWLEY/ STIRLING marriage which produced a William ::)
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Hrm.
I'm just rereading it all, some words are really tough to make out. The last "stirling" image I posted could be a reference to money (maybe). Did Australia use that term back then for money?
Edit:
Definitely a name. He also says his father is really a Raleigh, not Rowley.
I really feel for this guy... my (very very old) father fell and smashed his head a couple of months ago, and was delusional for weeks and weeks (and still in hospital). Their delusions are absolute reality to them and no amount of logic will change what they believe, as they have such strong memories of these nonexistent events. Things they hear get woven into the story, so this Stirling, unless he really does exist, could have been something as simple as him overhearing "he's a sterling fellow" or similiar, and voila! Mr Stirling enters his reality.
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Is that definitely a Wm, I wondered about it being Dr (Stirling).
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Thank you so much everyone for the replies. Mods deleted the original pic as I had neglected to crop out a ©️ reference so I hope to go back and add a cropped version to the original post.
I would never have picked Stirling and certainly don’t recognise it as a family name but will do some further searching.
The idea that it could say Dr rather than Wm is certainly very possible given the location (asylum).
Walter’s parents were Rowley (in actuality originally Kirk but I haven’t discovered why it was changed) and Salvin. Neither of the two younger sisters married a Stirling, though the d/c for the father (James Kirk/Rowley) states a 3rd daughter that I’ve never been able to locate ANY records for.
I have a few more ideas to follow up now. Thanks for the help everyone. 😃