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Research in Other Countries => Australia => Topic started by: GeoffTurner on Monday 27 October 25 23:52 GMT (UK)
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Hi all,
I am a descendant of this man. When I started researching family history I started with just my direct line, but have recently been working with other Clark descendants to fill in the gaps to get a better picture of the family as a whole. Charles and his second wife, Elspit Taylor, brought with them Andrew, the son of his first wife Jane Ogg, who had died, and eight of their own children (another had died in infancy). They had two more Australian-born children. I have a family history written by William Oswald Clark (1923-2013), Charles Clark's 2 x great grandson, and another Clark descendant has transcribed it. If you message me your email address I will send you a copy. I have also been in contact with William Oswald Clark's nephew to find out more about his uncle.
The Clark family moved from Melbourne to Smeaton in Victoria and then spread out to places including Yarrawonga, Corowa and the Narrandera area. My own great grandmother, Alice Clark (1877-1967) lived in the Lockhart area of the Riverina.
The history I found concentrates mainly on the descendants of Charles' first child, Andrew, but includes details of the area in Aberdeenshire (near Balmoral Castle) where Charles was a blacksmith before emigrating.
All the people I have mentioned (with the exception of William Oswald Clark's unnamed nephew) are deceased, so there should be no problems with that.
That's the background, now to the specific query. Fellow cousins descended from Sidney Ernest Wilson (1879-1961) are stumped trying to determine his ancestry. On the parish marriage register (St Michaels, Surry Hills, 2 Oct 1906, age 27) he says his father's name is unknown and his mother is Louisa, maiden name unknown. It says he was born at Clifton, which is on the coast between Sydney and Wollongong.
Some researchers think his father might have been Thomas Wilson Garlick (1835-1901), and Sidney was given his middle name for a surname. NSW BDM has one marriage for Thomas Wilson Garlick, and it's to Mary Collary (or Collaery), not to a woman named Louisa. Mary Garlick's death certificate does not list a Sidney as a child, living or dead.
As well as Sidney's marriage register, his Boer War mounted infantry picture, 1900 jail book (Wollongong jail, for vagrancy at Nowra), WWI Attestation, and Rookwood records all use the Sidney Wilson name.
I did a fairly wide sweep (1880-1890) of Wilson births in NSW BDM and found no Sidney births, let alone one at Clifton with a mother Louisa.
There were two births for Sydney, which I could rule out for other reasons.
I can see why my fellow Clark descendants are having trouble. I wonder if any Rootschatters might have ideas for further research.
Thanks again,
Geoff Turner
Brisbane
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Sidney Ernest Wilson - Birth date on his WW1 service documents is 25 June 1880
He says born in Coledale, and born in Clifton (both very close on NSW south coast)
Note – there are 3 attestation papers. Birth date appears several times.
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The attestation I have says he joined on 3 Feb 1916 aged 35 years and 7 months, which tallies with a birth date of 25 Jun 1880, as you say. The marriage register dated 2 Oct 1906 says he was 27, meaning he was born in the 12 months following 2 Oct 1879. Which also tallies with 25 Jun 1880. I am always a little suspicious of birth dates on service records because I know my own father increased his age by a year to meet the qualification criteria. People have also been known to change birth dates the other way if they feared being rejected as too old.
But 25 Jun 1880 was covered in my search of Wilson babies registered in NSW BDM and I couldn't find him there. There is no Sidney Wilson or Sidney Garlick registered in 1879, 1880 or 1881. So I am stumped.
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If your topic is about "finding" Sidney Ernest Wilson, I suggest you make that your topic heading.
Can I also suggest you remove the big long intro about your Clark family. It is unrelated to the purpose of your post, and a lot to read through. Posting as much information as you have about Sidney will help RootsChatter help you.
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Yes I'll do that. The first part was mainly an offer to send the transcript if anyone was interested.
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I think you must consider disregarding the item on the Ancestry online tree which touches on his prison sentence for vagrancy. Gaol Description Records.
The physical descriptions are not alike and there is a tattoo on the vagrant not mentioned on the enlistee.
Geoff,
Where was Sidney Ernest WILSON before his marriage?
What is your chap's address at marriage? I can't see the certificate
I can see the baptism of a child of his and wife on the Sydney Parish Anglican data base when he was a milk vendor.
This changed later when he became a mechanical engineer. Was he qualified or just good with motors?
Sue
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I hope this attachment gets through in a readable form. I have had to try to make it small enough to be an attachment.
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I am trying to find a woman named Louisa Wilson who might be his mother. Aged 15 or older when he was born. So that she just gave her name as the child's surname if she was unmarried, which was more usual. But none of hese jump out at me.
WILSON LOUISA531/1852 V1852531 38AJAMESLOUISACJ
Unavailable
WILSON LOUISA J381/1857 V1857381 149ROBERTSARAH ACJ
Readily Available
WILSON LOUISA J381/1857 381 VOL 149ROBERTSARAH A
Unavailable
WILSON LOUISA M1301/1857 MARTIN JMARTHA RSYDNEY
Unavailable
WILSON LOUISA1566/1862 JOHNRACHELSYDNEY
Unavailable
WILSON LOUISA A10011/1862 MARGARETFORBES
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Hi,
I you have not already tried, I would suggest that this is a case for DNA. It might help you home in on a family.
He may have been fairly flexible with his age.
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The marriage register says he is from Rose St, Darlington, which runs of Cleveland St on the city side of the Uni of Sydney.
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Which child's baptism was it where he was a milk vendor, Sue? I have
Thomas Wilson
1907–1907
Ivy Esther Wilson
1908–1970
Myra (Lillian) Wilson
1911–1988
Edna Phyllis Wilson
1913–1995
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I am trying to find a woman named Louisa Wilson who might be his mother. Aged 15 or older when he was born. So that she just gave her name as the child's surname if she was unmarried, which was more usual.
According to Sidney, Louisa's maiden name was "unknown". So logically it won't be Wilson.
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He might have been trying to cover up the implications of him having the same surname as her. I'm starting to get the sense that Sidney might not be the most reliable of sources.
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Which child's baptism was it where he was a milk vendor, Sue? I have
Thomas Wilson
1907–1907
Ivy Esther Wilson
1908–1970
Myra (Lillian) Wilson
1911–1988
Edna Phyllis Wilson
1913–1995
Myra Lillian.
Carter, not Vendor actually.
Sue
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My cousin, who is the daughter of Ivy Esther Wilson -- the daughter of Sidney Wilson and Ethel May Clark, tells me:
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I connected Sidney to Thomas Wilson Garlick through my DNA match to Diane Garlick who turned up as an extended family match of 135cM, half 2nd cousin. I contacted Diane and we were both mystified as to how we were connected.
I started looking into Thomas Wilson Garlick, Diane’s 2 x G Grandfather, he lived in Wollongong/ Clifton at the time & place where Sidney says that he was born. Thomas’s marriage had broken down by the mid 1870s, according to court information from Trove. From what we can gather Thomas was a bit of a rogue and have obtained a lot of information on him, and I believe Sidney was similar to Thomas.
After Sidney served in WWI he left the family, and not much is known of him. We think we have his correct death certificate.
After I put Thomas Wilson Garlick in my (Ancestry) tree, I have DNA matched with his family in particular through his maternal line. I don’t seem to have any connection to Thomas’s wife, Mary Collaery.
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So as David Nicoll suggested, DNA is the key to establishing who was the father of Sidney Wilson -- Thomas Wilson Garlick. We just need to find the mother (who Sidney said was Louisa), and a birth registration for Sidney. So I will keep at it.
Geoff
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And the NSW Government Gazette of 20 Apr 1888 notes that Thomas Wilson Garlick has been appointed magistrate at "Clifton, near Wollongong".
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Around the time of Sidney Ernest's birth, Garlick had been living apart from his wife and had not been paying for her maintenance. Therefore, plenty of opportunity to get another woman pregnant.
In the 1870's Garlick had been arrested for rape of a 12yr old in New Zealand. Had he repeated this in Australia, the subsequent birth may not have been registered; or perhaps registered many years later.
Garlick seems to have been a man with considerable "power" and "influence". Who knows what was done to cover up the birth of an illegitimate child.
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS18701216.2.19?end_date=31-12-1873&items_per_page=10&query=%22Wilson+Garlick%22+AND+rape&snippet=true&sort_by=byDA&start_date=01-01-1869
House belonging to Thomas Wilson Garlick at Clifton
https://www.illawarramuseum.com/page/wombarra-129-morrison-ave-aliummare
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After Sidney served in WWI he left the family, and not much is known of him. We think we have his correct death certificate.
Geoff
Perhaps you already have this…….
Search of NSW archives brings up a divorce petition for Norman Charles JACKSON and Amelia JACKSON with the co-respondent Sidney Ernest WILSON. I don't know whether this ever proceeded, but the couple did not share an address in 1930 (E Roll) and when Amelia died in 1963 her surname was still JACKSON
I suspect this is the same chap in this story about a cab driver named Sidney Ernest WILSON who borrowed a large amount of money from Amelia JACKSON who in turn got it from her carpenter husband.
It all happened around Cessnock and Newcastle.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/139490914?searchTerm=%22sidney%20ernest%20williams%22
By co-incidence, Amelia was nee WILSON, her father being Thomas WILSON. The first paragraph of the story uses the surname WILLIAMS for the man, but later uses WILSON.
Sue
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I initially thought this NZ document
https://www.ancestry.com.au/imageviewer/collections/6194/images/42014_b0154307-00489?pId=16542
might have indicated Garlick had been discharged on the rape charge, but the discharge relates to Aug 1870, before the rape charge in Dec 1870.
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Although I can't find a birth, the New South Wales police gazette and the Sydney Wilson you have in 1900 are not the same person.
Glebe. warrant issued by the children's court bench for the arrest of Sydney Ernest Wilson charged with disobeying a magisterial order for the support of his wife and children. aged 47, 5 feet 11 inches tall, stout build, fair complexion and hair, eyes blue, clean shaved. usually dressed in grey suit and grey felt hat drives a Buick car no. 39962 for private hire. is supposed to have gone to country.
published 28th july 1926
It does seem to match Wilson Sydney also record has been transcribed wrong. Wife is May not Mary. the second attestation form for Sydney also matches warrant.
Hope this helps in some way.
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Hi Kinsy,
Your find above certainly supports the news item I posted in reply #17.
A cabman involved with Amelia Jackson.
Sue
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I initially thought this NZ document
https://www.ancestry.com.au/imageviewer/collections/6194/images/42014_b0154307-00489?pId=16542
might have indicated Garlick had been discharged on the rape charge, but the discharge relates to Aug 1870, before the rape charge in Dec 1870.
It relates to Garlick being declared bankrupt and the insolvency court.
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Geoff, hi, so I am going to bite, I have a lot of family on Deeside, Clarks peripherally, at the moment!
I will PM you.