New to Australian Research!

[fridayjan]

Hi Elizabeth,

Yes, I did receive your emails, and the photos - thank you, it's great to see where they would have lived and worked.

You should have received one from me with an attachment about the Skelly's and Boyd's in St Vincent.

Got to go out now, but hope to have some time to sit down later.

Janet

[ewilkin]

Satchwell
You can access QLD B>D>M online at Queensland Archives Search   Also at QLD DEpt Justice and Attorney General Data Base.
Hope this helps
Elizabeth

[fridayjan]

Hi Ruskie, Karen, Elizabeth,

Just to let you know the book has arrived - I'll let you know if I find anything new/exciting.

I've had a look on Ancestry for a Jane McGavin and there is one b1844 Glasgow who was housekeeper to her 4 brothers, a sister and a lodger in 1861.  Could it be possible that she went with them as a maid/housekeeper and the name is a co-incidence?  Would they have paid for her to go in a cabin rather than steerage?

I've put a posting on the Emigrants board and the Scotland, Lanarkshire board http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,306366.0.html about Janet and William Thomson but with no response so far  .

I finally got to the Records Office yesterday.  Ruskie, I'm afraid I could find anything for you  , but I did find LOTS of baptisms for Karen - and surprisingly some of the Lowe children seem to have been baptised twice - in different churchs - I've never heard of that before!!  I'll PM the details to you.

Oh well, I've drunk my cup of tea now, so back to the decorating!!

Janet

[Ruskie]

Hi Janet,

The book didn't take long to arrive  - not a bad service. Hope it gives you some valuable information

Thanks for looking for that christening for me - shame he wasn't there, but never mind - as he was only a great uncle, so it's not the end of the world.

Um, not sure about the Jane McGavin you found. Is she around in 1871? I suppose she may have married  . Also, I suspect your thoughts are correct - I doubt that a servant would have travelled in a cabin. No doubt you have already done this, but have you looked at other branches of the McGavin family to see if she may fit in elsewhere?

Some of my lot (unusual surname) travelled to Australia with children with the same surname, and I have no idea who they belong to. I don't know how well the records would have been kept, or whether the authorities cared if any people travelling in family groups were not related. Wonder if Janet was a servant and not a McGavin, but either no one bothered to check, or they didn't care. Also thinking about Robert's wheeling and dealing, and there may have been some other reason why Janet is included as a McGavin ....

I will try to get to the archives this week to copy Robert's letters for you and Elizabeth. Had a bit of a disorganised week last week. Oh, just realised that my daughter has exams this week and next, so will be ferrying her to and from school at different times of the day. So will see if I have a free day for the archives.

[ewilkin]

Hi Guys,
Its  Sunday night after long drive home from the coast  and my brain is not computing so well.
Re Jane McGavin I don't think it would be the same person on the census as a servant as the ages don't match.   But who knows?
I have found a Jane McGavin marrying a James Spalding in 1888 (QLD) she died in 1909 listing Margaret Haggart as her mother and James McLaren as her father
There is also a MArgaret Jane Haggart McGavin who marries in 1899 a Joseph John James - possibly Janes mother - am I being dislexic again?
There must be a connection but my addled brain is having trouble working it
Ok Ok just worked it out - secound marriage for Jane she was Jane McLaren and married James McGavin in 1873 so not our Jane.
I'll bet I've got you confused now- lol
Eliz

[fridayjan]

Hi Ruskie, Karen and Elizabeth,

I've had a look for the Jane McGavin (the housekeeper) in 1871 and can't spot her - but as you say, maybe she had married in the meantime.

As far as I know, of the Skelly children, there were only Margaret, Janet and Adam who had children.  Adam only had one (my gtgtgt grandfather - with no mother at the moment ) but Janet and William Thomson did have a daughter "Jane C" b1849, so she would only have been 12 rather than the 16 years old Jane on the passenger list. 

Another possibly interesting little snippet is that I was googling variations on McGavin, Thomson and the Clyde Galvanising Company and in google books found "The Jurist" 26.1.1861 "Scotch Sequestrations - The Clyde Galvanising Company, Mavisbank, Govan, Lanarkshire" - which I think means they went bankrupt .  Maybe that would help explain why they left Scotland?  I also found an Australian article which said "Robert McGavin of the CG Works, Glasgow was granted a Victorian patent in 1859 for making tiles with "transverse ridges or corrugations of a curved or angular figure"" which was apparently known as "The McGavin Improvement" and these tiles have been found on roofs in Australia.

I'd like to try and find out more about the Galvanising Works, but I'm sure it must be "our" Robert as in 1861 William Thomson (his BIL and business partner) describes himself on the census as an Iron Merchant.

I must try and work out how to search more accurately on google though, as there is an actor and a vet who keep cropping up regularly!!!!

Janet

[Ruskie]

You have dug up some interesting snippets there Janet  .

Could be worth chasing up Jane Thomson b 1849 (easier said than done I know) just in case she caught a lift with the McGavins. If it is her, I wonder if there would have been any benefit in changing her age? To be classed as an adult perhaps? If the Thomsons emigrated too as you suspect they may have done, it may be possible that Jane travelled with the McGavin's for some reason. I suppose Robert being a male may not even have known her age and filled in the form/s incorrectly (really grasping at straws here).

Janet, try an advanced search on google and you can remove the vet and the actor. 

(PS. Janet and Elizabeth - I still haven't forgotten about Robert's letters, just haven't got to the archives yet I'm afraid.)

[ewilkin]

A photo I found of St Vincent Is. c1890
Add to the collection
Liz

[MarieC]

Liz

Thank you so much for posting the photo of St Vincent Island.  My gggrandmother lost two babies of diphtheria on the voyage to Australia in 1853, and they were apparently buried there.  Brought a tear to my eye, this photo did!

MarieC