1
Australia / Re: The Mysterious Mr Thomas KEVEN
« on: Friday 27 June 25 19:47 BST (UK) »
Maaaaaaybe he assumed the name of the Thomas Keven who died?
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2
Australia / Re: The Mysterious Mr Thomas KEVEN
« on: Friday 27 June 25 19:10 BST (UK) »
I momentarily got excited about the Walsh names! I did see two or three DNA matches clustered with Walsh as a name.
The DNA trail is showing he was clearly Irish in ancestry - lucky for me Emma was purely German/Channel Islander, so I'm able to make an easier determination about which small matches are his side.
In NZ they married at the Wesleyan chapel, and he was prominent in fundraising and facilitating the building of a new Primitive Methodist church. He was also on the committee of the abstinence society.
Checking the dates - he arrived in NZ in July 1841, and by August 1841 was advertising being in business with Thomas Byrnes, boot and shoemaker. I'm wondering if they knew each other/worked together in Australia.
Emma's father George worked in military supplies in Sydney - I wondered whether he was doing bootmaking work for them, rather than having a shop. George died in 1836.
I'll try to get hold of the marriage register entry - it's very early for NZ records. The info comes from a handwritten annotation on a list of early settlers. The note says he was a butcher, but I'm thinking that may well be a transcription error.
ciderdrinker - omigosh! You really found the Otto/Nicolle marriage?! I can't tell you how many years many researchers have been trying to find that! Their children were born all over Europe with the campaigning. I doubt anyone thought to try such a late date.
wivenhoe - yes, I'd looked at alternative spellings for Pawsey, and figured out Costley, hoping it might be a family name - He had a friend Edward Costley, who was contributing sums of money to causes he was involved with.
The DNA trail is showing he was clearly Irish in ancestry - lucky for me Emma was purely German/Channel Islander, so I'm able to make an easier determination about which small matches are his side.
In NZ they married at the Wesleyan chapel, and he was prominent in fundraising and facilitating the building of a new Primitive Methodist church. He was also on the committee of the abstinence society.
Checking the dates - he arrived in NZ in July 1841, and by August 1841 was advertising being in business with Thomas Byrnes, boot and shoemaker. I'm wondering if they knew each other/worked together in Australia.
Emma's father George worked in military supplies in Sydney - I wondered whether he was doing bootmaking work for them, rather than having a shop. George died in 1836.
I'll try to get hold of the marriage register entry - it's very early for NZ records. The info comes from a handwritten annotation on a list of early settlers. The note says he was a butcher, but I'm thinking that may well be a transcription error.
ciderdrinker - omigosh! You really found the Otto/Nicolle marriage?! I can't tell you how many years many researchers have been trying to find that! Their children were born all over Europe with the campaigning. I doubt anyone thought to try such a late date.
wivenhoe - yes, I'd looked at alternative spellings for Pawsey, and figured out Costley, hoping it might be a family name - He had a friend Edward Costley, who was contributing sums of money to causes he was involved with.
3
Australia / The Mysterious Mr Thomas KEVEN
« on: Friday 27 June 25 11:48 BST (UK) »
I think I need some Aussie genealogy detective help!
My 3x Great-grandfather, Thomas Keven, was a prominent settler in early Auckland, New Zealand. He came over from Australia in 1841, was a bootmaker and then deeply involved in goldmining.
BUT I've been trying to trace his life before New Zealand, hoping to identify his parents, and Mr Keven does not add up!
There's a curious cluster of mentions I've found recently on Trove, which are making me question whether he really was who he said he was:
===
In New Zealand, Thomas Keven married Emma Otto in 1845 and had several children.
He died in 1877, apparently aged 70, ie, born 1807. According to notes from the marriage register, he was 28, ie, b. 1817.
Unsourced comments from other researchers say he was born in London, knew the Otto family when they were in Sydney, and came to NZ initially in 1839 with them, but went back again
He apparently had properties and business in Australia, but I can't find anything.
He also, somehow, must have had substantial cash (before his goldmining days) to purchase the palatial house the family lived in, and also to rebuild it without insurance after a fire.
I'm in the middle of analysing DNA matches, and his surname doesn't feature. I do see small clusters of Irish Flatleys and Roche/Roush.
Can anyone help me with uncovering the truth about him??
My 3x Great-grandfather, Thomas Keven, was a prominent settler in early Auckland, New Zealand. He came over from Australia in 1841, was a bootmaker and then deeply involved in goldmining.
BUT I've been trying to trace his life before New Zealand, hoping to identify his parents, and Mr Keven does not add up!
There's a curious cluster of mentions I've found recently on Trove, which are making me question whether he really was who he said he was:
- 12 Jan 1841: Sydney Herald pg 3. List of unclaimed letters - Keven, Thomas (formerly Richard)
14 Jun 1841: The Sydney Monitor and Commercial Advertiser: Marriages - On Thursday the 10th instant, by the Rev. Mr Williams, Mr Thomas Keven, to Miss M Birmingham of Gundaroo.
21 Jun 1841: Sydney Monitor and Commercial Advertiser: Passenger list for the Shamrock, in steerage - Thomas Kevan
10 Jul 1841 Arrived in Auckland from Sydney on the Shamrock
30 Oct 1841: Australasian Chronicle (Sydney) Died: At Auckland, New Zealand, on the 20th September last, from the bite of a mad dog received in Sydney, Mr. Thomas Keven, bootmaker.
27 Nov 1841: The Omnibus and Sydney Spectator. Marriages: On the 29th of October, at Auckland, New Zealand, by the Reverend M Birmingham, Mr Thomas Kevan, boot and shoemaker, (late of Sydney) to Miss S. Pausey, of same place.
===
In New Zealand, Thomas Keven married Emma Otto in 1845 and had several children.
He died in 1877, apparently aged 70, ie, born 1807. According to notes from the marriage register, he was 28, ie, b. 1817.
Unsourced comments from other researchers say he was born in London, knew the Otto family when they were in Sydney, and came to NZ initially in 1839 with them, but went back again
He apparently had properties and business in Australia, but I can't find anything.
He also, somehow, must have had substantial cash (before his goldmining days) to purchase the palatial house the family lived in, and also to rebuild it without insurance after a fire.
I'm in the middle of analysing DNA matches, and his surname doesn't feature. I do see small clusters of Irish Flatleys and Roche/Roush.
Can anyone help me with uncovering the truth about him??
4
New Zealand Completed Requests / Re: Search for parents of Sydney Egmont Hill *completed*
« on: Friday 02 February 24 02:09 GMT (UK) »
This thread is ancient history now, but I'm working on my DNA connection to a large cluster of cousins who all seem to be connected to this Matthew Hill who died at Puniho, almost all with Māori ancestry. I haven't figured out how I'm connected to him.
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New Zealand Completed Requests / Re: GREEKS/ROBINSON/WAKEFIELD elopement and child
« on: Thursday 04 January 24 21:30 GMT (UK) »
We now have DNA proof that our George William Wakefield was the child of Ellen Winifred Greeks :-)
6
Family History Beginners Board / Re: James Dillon of Co Armagh
« on: Tuesday 28 March 23 11:21 BST (UK) »
Thanks for checking :-) The James Dillon I'm hunting for has a son who did have a wife who died at age 26 leaving him with two children before he remarried, so these things can happen, but I'll check other possibles.
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Family History Beginners Board / Re: James Dillon of Co Armagh
« on: Saturday 18 March 23 05:31 GMT (UK) »
My Richard Dillon, son of James, was 'of Donaghcloney' and connected to Ballynagarrick too - very close to the town names you have.
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Family History Beginners Board / Re: James Dillon of Co Armagh
« on: Saturday 18 March 23 04:59 GMT (UK) »
Hi Thomas2Sam :-)
I'm also trying to trace a James Dillon, of Co. Armagh, and I'm just starting to wonder if they're connected. I'm wondering if yours could have had a first wife, Judith McCavney/McKeavney, and at least a couple of children, Isabelle b. 1845, Richard possibly b. 1844.
It's just ringing bells, because Richard was living in Greenock, married there in 1865, but was from Armagh - I think he stayed there, but I have lots of matches with Australian Dillons, and his daughter, my great-grandmother Margaret, eventually left New Zealand and went to Sydney. Her mother was a McCosker, who died young, and many of them also went to Australia.
Have you done DNA testing? I've got a large Dillon tree mapped out that connects my Dillon matches, but I'm still looking for my link.
I'm also trying to trace a James Dillon, of Co. Armagh, and I'm just starting to wonder if they're connected. I'm wondering if yours could have had a first wife, Judith McCavney/McKeavney, and at least a couple of children, Isabelle b. 1845, Richard possibly b. 1844.
It's just ringing bells, because Richard was living in Greenock, married there in 1865, but was from Armagh - I think he stayed there, but I have lots of matches with Australian Dillons, and his daughter, my great-grandmother Margaret, eventually left New Zealand and went to Sydney. Her mother was a McCosker, who died young, and many of them also went to Australia.
Have you done DNA testing? I've got a large Dillon tree mapped out that connects my Dillon matches, but I'm still looking for my link.
9
Hertfordshire / Re: Ruel TAYLOR living in Welwyn during 1775, SOLOMON of Codicote
« on: Tuesday 02 August 22 20:37 BST (UK) »
Thank you Trish! I've been hunting for that burial information! Glad to have a birth year for him.
Yes - I'd been exploring the Revel Taylor with Anne Blandy and trying to work out how the dates might fit - I suspect they'll be relatives. She's buried at Putnam. I've found evidence my Reuel was living in Clapham before moving to Codicote
And yes, I'm hunting for any further info about George Solomon and Sarah Oliver - it seems likely it's the same man. Haven't yet found a marriage for them, or a death for Sarah. George's marriage to Ann Taylor was so soon after Elizabeth was born.
Yes - I'd been exploring the Revel Taylor with Anne Blandy and trying to work out how the dates might fit - I suspect they'll be relatives. She's buried at Putnam. I've found evidence my Reuel was living in Clapham before moving to Codicote
And yes, I'm hunting for any further info about George Solomon and Sarah Oliver - it seems likely it's the same man. Haven't yet found a marriage for them, or a death for Sarah. George's marriage to Ann Taylor was so soon after Elizabeth was born.