Help needed to read surname please

[Jaffajen]

Hello.  I have the shipping list for my gggrandmother's arrival in Sydney in 1850, but am having trouble reading her parent's surname.  The list is now available on Ancestry, but even with magnification, I'm having trouble.  I'd be really grateful if someone with experience in reading 19th century handwriting could decipher for me.  The entry is for Eleanor Rowland arriving Sydney 24/10/1850 on the 'Jane Morrison'.  This is available under 'NSW, Aust. Assisted Immigrant Passenger Lists 1828-1896'.  The names 'George' and 'Alice' are quite clear, as is the notation that they are both dead - its the scribble in the middle I can't fathom.  Any help is gratefully appreciated, as I can't find Eleanor dying anywhere, so have no death certificate to work from.

[Ruskie]

There is no surname - it just says George and Alice - presumably surname is also Rowland. 

Calling:
Domestic servant

Native place and county:
Mauritius

Religion:
Weslyan

Read or Write:
both

relations in the colony:
none

state of bodily health, strength and ??:
good

[PrueM]

Hi Jaffajen,

It's very hard to read, but I wonder whether it's "Wise"...there's no obvious capital letter at the front of the word, but it seems to say that to me.

Cheers
Prue

[Ruskie]

Oh, I see the little word just before "both dead" - I'll have another look 

Do you expect this to be the mother's surname? Weird entries - most just have forenames of parents - some appear to have fairly illegible surnames. 

You can always request a lookup for Eleanor's death on the Australia boards. I take it you know her married name or is she already married?.  But I agree with Prue - wise (no capital). 

have you found any of her children's births. death or marriages - these should given Eleanor's maiden name if any occurred in Australia.

[Jaffajen]

Thanks Ruskie & Prue.  It appears that some entries on this page do have parent's surnames for females.  Why else would there be that squiggle before 'both dead'?  I have spent 2 years trying to find George & Alice HALL in Mauritius or anywhere!  I cannot find a marriage for Eleanor (known also as Ellen) to anyone in the UK.  Her son Albert, who travelled with her to Aust, was christened in Gloucester in 1837 as Albert HALL.  His son named his grandmother as Ellen Hall, grandfather 'unknown' on Albert's DC.  This is such a brick wall!  I go away and try to come back with fresh thoughts.

Thanks for the 'wise' suggestion.  It looked like the second letter was an 'i' because of the position of the dot, and maybe an 's' in there.

Thanks again, I appreciate your looking into it.  I'm always amazed at the friendly helpful people I meet in the genealogy community.

[danuslave]

I think the 'rule' is that the parents surnames are only shown if different from the passenger's

So 

Rowland Eleanor     George and Alice Wise both dead
             Albert       Edward  McLean (??) dec(eased), mother on board

Linda

[Jaffajen]

Thanks Linda.

I read Albert's parents' details as:  Edward & Eleanor, father dead, mother on board.  Making them both Rowlands.

If only Albert had put his parents' names on his marriage certificate it would have saved me years of headaches!!!  I'm starting to think this lady went by many names, not legally.  She shows up in the 1841 living in Gloucester as Ellen Powtney, with James Powtney and little Albert HALL.  And guess what?  No marriage record there either.

Aaaargh!

Thank you all for your input.

Jen