My next Brick Wall [COMPLETED]

[redmr2red]

Merry Christmas, my next brick wall is Hannah Forrester.  She married Stephen Gaffney 19 April 1893 in Strahan, Tasmania. (Reg No. 768/1893) when she was only 16 or 17.  This means she was born around 1876 we think in Scotland.

There are a few Hannah Forrester possibilities on a well known Scotland pay Web Site, but we have discounted them all discovering who each one married, lived and died in Scotland.

It is possible that Hannah Forrester was born in Tasmania of Scottish parents, or even born at sea, but we can’t find that either. I have her marriage, all her children and her death certificate.

What we would like to find is her arrival in Tasmania between 1876 and 1893 and her birth in Scotland or Tasmania.

Cheers, Kevin

[majm]

Hi there,

Please if poss, consider typing up the info from her marriage certificate (including any mention of who gave consent, names of witnesses, clergy as well as the usual info) and her death certificate (including burial info if available too please).

Some thoughts ...

Have you found any headstone or cemetery info for Hannah?

Have you considered the usual variations to the given name of Hannah?  Have you considered a naming pattern in the names of her children?  This is a good link for giving some likely variations http://www.whatsinaname.net/

Could Forrester have become her surname acquired perhaps when her mother may have married (again perhaps) after Hannah was born?  So have you looked for marriages in Tasmania with the groom's surname of FORRESTER ...

Cheers,  JM

 

[redmr2red]

Thanks JM, I don't have her marriage certificate as yet. I have a photo of her headstone which just has her name under her husband's, Hannah Gaffney 1876 - 1958 RIP.  Not much help there.

Her death certificate gives a reputed birthplace as Glasgow, Scotland. Age at marriage 16 (a strange thing to have on a death certificate) then just numbers for male 1 and female 5 children and the cause of death. The girls names in order were Mary, Margaret, Hannah, Kathlene, Phyllis.  We think her middle name may have been Mary.

We have considered variations including (H) Anna and Helen which her daughter Hannah used. I will look for a marriage with the groom Forrester in Tasmania, we hadn't thought of that one, thanks.

Kevin

[~MERLIN~]

Marriage:

GAFFNEY STEPHEN age 23yrs m. FORRESTER HANNAH age 17yrs 19/01/1893 STRAHAN #768/1893 RGD 37

Her death certificate gives a reputed birthplace as Glasgow, Scotland. Age at marriage 16 (a strange thing to have on a death certificate).

Why do you consider this strange?

[majm]

http://www.jaunay.com/bdm.html

This link will give you an idea of what to expect on various Aussie BDM certificates ... each state/territory is responsible for their own registrations.

Cheers,  JM

[majm]

 

Oh Merlin  I was also thinking of asking that question 

Anyway Kevin,

There's lots of good family history information on Aussie certificates .... some states even include the equivalent of a burial order  .  I have one particular NSW BDM d.c. where there are four generations of the one family mentioned on it.   The parents of the deceased (including nee name of the mum, all five married surnames (she outlived all her husbands), the deceased, the deceased's marriages and their respective issues, and err... the informant who was named and as is usual, the relationship for the informant to the deceased was noted, so on that occasion it was .....  recorded ....as "eldest grandson". 

Do you need any follow up on those children of Hannah's ? 

Cheers,  JM

Age at marriage 16 (a strange thing to have on a death certificate) then just numbers for male 1 and female 5 children and the cause of death. The girls names in order were Mary, Margaret, Hannah, Kathlene, Phyllis.  We think her middle name may have been Mary.

[Ruskie]

Some Australian d/c's ask how long the person lived in Australia if they weren't born there. This can be helpful in narrowing down a year of immigration.

[~MERLIN~]

then just numbers for male 1 and female 5 children and the cause of death. The girls names in order were Mary, Margaret, Hannah, Kathlene, Phyllis.  We think her middle name may have been Mary.

Obviously her death certificate is incorrect about the children as there were two sons 

GAFFNEY Stephen b. 16/06/1898 - LYELL #1128
GAFFNEY Desmond Acquin b. 07/03/1915 - Augusta Road, HOBART #464

Only one of the seven birth registrations shows a middle name of Mary for Hannah.

[redmr2red]

Thanks Merlin, I just thought it was a funny question to ask on a death certificate. I know all questions can be helpful. I guess I was just imaging some grieving rleative being asked all these question and saying "What does it matter how old she was when she got married".      

The death certificate is correct 1 living male, the other Stephen died aged 10 he is on the death certificate as 1 not living male. It would be nice to know how he died, but that will be found when his death certificate arrives.

Thanks again JM, I have all I need on her children, and her life after marriage, it is only the arrival in Tasmania and her birth in Scotland that I cannot crack.

Kevin