1873 Migration to SA - BILLIATT

[imot]

Hi

John William Billiatt and wife went to Paraguay in October 1872, in charge of a large group of migrants who would settle there with the help of both the British and Paraguayan governments. Unfortunately for the 1000 or so emigrants, once they arrived no help was forthcoming, and the expedition turned out a disaster.
(Sorry - see you have that info. already - should learn to read).

Don't know whether they returned to the UK before heading out to SA.

Nick

[barbarian]

Hi,

I have just stumbled upon this old thread and am very interested in the photos that grantleydawn refers to.

John William Billiatt was my great great great uncle, and his parents of course my great great great grandparents ( i think I've got that right). After years I have searching I have never been able to find pictures of them. Would love to see jpegs of them if possible!

Without seeing the pics or knowing more, I would be a little surprised if they are in fact pictures of JW Billiatt's parent taken in Adelaide. My family records, including many many letters, suggest his parents never left the UK. If the picture was taken in say 1872, then there is a very fair chance that it was taken in London in 1872 before JW Billiatt departed for Paraguay. I am not aware if he returned to London after the Paraguay disaster, so it could have been taken there in 1873 before they then returned to South Australia.

Hope this is of use...regards Paul

[grantleydawn]

Hi Paul,

If my research is correct, you should be very happy with what I have.

I have sent you a personal message.

Regards
Grantley

[krisesjoint]

Hi Grantley,

This is the only arrival I could find at the library today. In is July 1874 (Just found online)

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/39812851

Cheers Kris 

[grantleydawn]

Hi Kris,

Thankyou very much. What a great find.

So much good stuff is coming available on trove.nls.gov.au and it is a matter of revisiting my old research and looking up trove. Obviously I hadn’t done that for this query.

So if my previous information is correct, that John William BILLIATT, wife & 2 daughters arrived back in South Australia in July 1873 (which I am yet to validate the date);
then this was his parents arriving a year later in July 1874.
NOTE: The above July 1873 date is wrong

It is all adding up perfectly.

Now all I have to do is to find the arrival of John William BILLIATT, wife & 2 daughters in (possibly) July 1873. Something to do tomorrow.

What a wonderful find.
Thankyou Kris.

[Godward]

It is a rather old post but just thought I would let you know I have done quite a lot of research about the emigration scheme to Paraguay that Billiatt was involved in - my greatgrandfather was one of the emigrants. You can find further details at https://www.canninghouse.org/canning-insights/the-lincolnshire-famers-in-paraguay and at https://lfparaguay.wordpress.com/. I definitely know that William Billiatt left Buenos Aires in early June 1873 and his wife and daughters were still in Paraguay in Novemebr 1873. Do you know when they finally got back?

Regards

Mary

[grantleydawn]

He seemed to like attending public meetings and appear in newspapers.

It would appear that John William BILLIATT and Ann Elizabeth (nee KING) were the "Mr. and Mrs. BILLIAT and servant, in the cabin" who arrived in South Australia on the 14 July 1874 aboard the "DARRA" which departed London on the 24th April.
Their two daughters are not mentioned in the shipping news. They would have been aged 10 & 6.

[Godward]

So, if they left London on 24 April, it would appear that this was what they did:
- Sailed from Asunción to Buenos Aires sometime between December 1873 and early March 1874 (the trip could take naything between 4 and 7 days)
- Sailed from Buenos Aires to London sometime between December 1873 and mid-March 1874 (it would have taken about 4 weeks)
- Sailed from London to Australia: 24 April 1874

In the November 1873 letter John W Billiatt mentions no possible dates for his family leaving Paraguay so it was probably closer to February/March 1874.

Many thanks

Mary