Hi there,
Re your replies # 43, & 44
#43 ... baptism record issuesRegardless of if anyone had a photo of the parish register page or not, the record that St Phillips holds is of itself a ‘real’ entry, as it was a requirement of the civil authorities that the Established Church, (of which St Phillips was the ‘seat’ for the NSW Chaplain) make a record of the baptisms (and burials and marriages). There is no easy way to determine if it is a record of a baptism that occurred at St Phillips, celebrated by Rev Cowper, or if it was a transmitted record, just by looking at that entry in that register.
An alternative to that register, is the NSW State Library’s film holdings of quite a number records of baptisms, burials, marriages. For example, (four families in my tree who were in NSW from early settlement times)
From my own tree I know that a marriage was celebrated by William Cowper back in the 1810s, yet all the children were raised as Roman Catholics. Most, but not all of the baptisms for those children are recorded in the St Phillips records, and in some cases, I can find where the baptisms are either noted in the RC priest’s diary, or are findable via the St Marys Chapel and later the St Marys Cathedral records. And the film at NSW SL for that marriage provides greater detail than the St Phillips entry. It includes the ages of the bride and groom, and the name of the arrival ships (they were with a regiment, so I then found where the regiment had approved the marriage, thus the pension issues were sorted)
From my own tree, I have a baptism for one baby, it shows up at least three times at the NSW BDM index, she was baptised according to Wesleyan rites, and the NSW SL film shows the date that the Wesleyan Rev transmitted the summary to “Wm Cowper”. St Phillips record gives the usual info, BUT the NSW SL film gives me the following additional information: the occupation of the father, his place of employment, his residential address, his then age, the date of birth of the baby, her place of birth, the mother’s nee, their date of marriage (in England), and the name of the ship of arrival, all three Christian names for the baby, all three Christian names for the father, and all four Christian names for the mother (I presume because there was no further space left, the Wesleyan Rev forgot to mention the names of the baby girl’s older siblings)
So I hope that gives you a clearer background to remove those appearances of Willy Nilly. He can be a cad as he sets out to confuse lots of people, lots of times. I know, because he has caught me out on more than one occasion
.
# 44 The Police Constable The James Davidson who was dismissed from the position of a Police Constable, in the Campbelltown District in Jan 1836, so the questions that spring to my mind are
When was he appointed, how old was he when appointed
Where was he born, and if overseas, how and when did he arrive
Why was he dismissed (and not permitted to resign) and What happened to him after 5 Jan 1836
The Richard Watkins who replaced him as Police Constable in the Campbelltown District may and may NOT be the person you have mentioned. There’s at least two possible mentions in Col Sec’s papers 1788-1825
WATKINS. Captain, 84th Regiment, to Sydney from Tasmania in Nov 1819 and Jan 1821
WATKINS, Richard, Stonemason. On list of all persons victualled from H.M. Magazines Sept 1821
Re Watkins v Solomon, Sydney Gazette 13 March, 1834,
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2215620 That Mr Watkins was the Proprietor of the Talbott Inn, Brickfield Hill (right in the heart of Sydney, many miles from Narellan, Campbelltown), but Watkins was only the nominal owner, as his assigned servant was the occupier/day to day operator. But alas,
I cannot find a given name for that Mr Watkins.
Question if I may, Are you able to get to the NSW State Library, Macquarie St Sydney? I expect to be in Sydney sometime after Easter 2012, and if I can spare the time, I may get to NSW SL, but my TO DO list is already quite substantial
Cheers, JM
