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Other Countries / Re: Can you help to solve an Indian mystery?
« on: Tuesday 18 November 25 10:57 GMT (UK) »
Yes this is what I have found previously. The record of Robert Smith Coombs departing England is at the British Library.
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Other Countries / Re: Can you help to solve an Indian mystery?
« on: Tuesday 18 November 25 02:36 GMT (UK) »
Update on this branch of the family:
DNA testing has confirmed what I concluded from the diaries – that Robert Smith Coombes fathered several children with a native Indian woman. This finding is further supported by your own DNA result, as you share a similar percentage of DNA linked to northern India.
I also have photographs of the family, and they clearly show Anglo-Indian heritage. By the time of our parents’ generation, however, this was far less visible, as they largely presented as white, with blue eyes and European features.
As for the diaries themselves – yes, I have them. I am considering some form of self-publication to make them available, though it would be a demanding project in terms of time and cost, and I am uncertain whether there would be a wider market for such a work. But they are very striking and full of amazing details , including the difficult conditions of the time.
DNA testing has confirmed what I concluded from the diaries – that Robert Smith Coombes fathered several children with a native Indian woman. This finding is further supported by your own DNA result, as you share a similar percentage of DNA linked to northern India.
I also have photographs of the family, and they clearly show Anglo-Indian heritage. By the time of our parents’ generation, however, this was far less visible, as they largely presented as white, with blue eyes and European features.
As for the diaries themselves – yes, I have them. I am considering some form of self-publication to make them available, though it would be a demanding project in terms of time and cost, and I am uncertain whether there would be a wider market for such a work. But they are very striking and full of amazing details , including the difficult conditions of the time.
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Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition / Re: Occupation 1901 census please
« on: Wednesday 29 October 25 11:38 GMT (UK) »
Thanks for this. It’s interesting because I originally thought the last word in question was “Lion”
Boo has beaten me to it, but…
In the census entry his address is 17 Ettington Road. Here is the address on the 1902/1905 6 inch OS map:
https://maps.nls.uk/view/101597606#zoom=5.8&lat=1950&lon=2772&layers=BT
If you zoom out a little and look to the north, just past the railway line you will see the Lion Ammunition Works, which seems like a good candidate for his place of work.
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Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition / Re: Occupation 1901 census please
« on: Wednesday 29 October 25 11:14 GMT (UK) »
That all fits in with what I have. Thanks very much
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Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition / Re: Occupation 1901 census please
« on: Wednesday 29 October 25 11:01 GMT (UK) »FindMyPast have his occupation as Machinist ammunition, as is his son, James. AND just to confuse things they have the surname as ROUND.
The correct surname is Round, Ancestry have got it wrong on two different census records
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Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition / Re: Occupation 1901 census please
« on: Wednesday 29 October 25 10:51 GMT (UK) »Ammunition ?
Boo
Could be, certainly was his profession ten years later. Just strange how the 'tion' is spaced from the first part
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Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition / Occupation 1901 census please
« on: Wednesday 29 October 25 10:39 GMT (UK) »
Only the occupation with the arrow (others there for reference).
First word is Machinist - what do you make of the next two words please?
Location: Dudley.
Original: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/7814/images/WARRG13_2884_2885-0357?pId=16682755
NB: ten years later he was an 'ammunition machinist'
First word is Machinist - what do you make of the next two words please?
Location: Dudley.
Original: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/7814/images/WARRG13_2884_2885-0357?pId=16682755
NB: ten years later he was an 'ammunition machinist'
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Australia / Re: Is this a Convict Indent or Muster Roll?
« on: Friday 05 September 25 23:54 BST (UK) »
Brill, thanks, I think I just needed a second pair of eyes to confirm I was seeing what I thought I was seeing. 
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Australia / Re: Is this a Convict Indent or Muster Roll?
« on: Friday 05 September 25 23:09 BST (UK) »
Another example. The label at the front of the books state "This volume contains the indentures of convict transports which arrived i the years 18xx-18xx" - they MUST be indents, right?