Thomas BRYANT

[djamesp]

Thomas Bryant, (1866-1921), b. Ross Creek, Victoria - son of Mark Bryant (1830-1898), a farmer, and Dinah (nee Davies)(1832-1882). He came to NZ c 1902, and was firstly a Methodist Home Missionary, and then entered the Presbyterian ministry. He died at Clydevale in South Otago. I am trying to discover what he was doing in Victoria from, say, 1885 until the turn of the century. There are no Electoral Rolls to call on and his name doesn't appear in the Victoria Directories.
There were three children of his marriage to Mary Jane Parker (1865-1947) but I do not know where any descendents of these might be living.

[cando]

He married in 1893 and his children were all born at Napoleons which is not far from Scotts Creek.  Any of the five children's birth certificates would give his occupation.  Perhaps he was a farmer as was his father. Dau Lucy died aged 2 years.

Images of certs can be purchased online and immediately downloaded [AUD20]
https://online.justice.vic.gov.au/bdm/index-search?action=purchaseImage

Ross Creek and Napoleons are rural districts south east of Ballarat.  Google for info.

1888 PO Directory
BRYANT Mark  Ross Creek  Farmer

Possibly of interest to you.

BRYANT Dinah 47 years  Married   In Colony 21 years  Religion Baptist
Hospital record  4 Jul 1878
Place -Ross Creek   Born South Wales
Ballarat Hospital Admissions Register 1856-1913.
Comment - Name of Recommender or remarks.  J Amoy

BRYANT Dinah  50 years  Status Married  In Colony 24 years  Less Common Religion
Hospital record  23 Dec 1881
Place  Ross Creek    Born Carmarthenshire
Ballarat Hospital Admissions Register 1856-1913.
Comment - Name of Recommender or remarks. John BRAY

BRYANT Mark  68 years  Born England  Status Widowed  Religion Wesleyan  Occupation Farmer  In Colony 44 years
Hospital record
27 Jun 1898
Place Ross Creek 
Ballarat Hospital Admissions Register 1856-1913.
Comment - Name of Recommender or remarks W COLTMAN

A quick search of TROVE digitised newspapers didn't find any of the family.
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper

I can't check the outward bound passenger records at PROV as once again their website is down.

Cando

[djamesp]

Thanks greatly for the information. I can certainly follow up through a NZ Marriage Certificate for one of the children. I can agree with your hunch that he worked on his father's farm. 
There is a sort of coincidence in the date of his father's death - 1898 being not too long before he decided to try out ministry as a career.  At that time (1900-1905) there seems to have been a surplus of candidates for the ministry in Victoria - quite a number came across the Tasman and spent the rest of their lives in Methodist ministry here.

[cando]

Your request was for information about Thomas's life in Australia and to find his occupation during those years would be his marriage certificate or a birth certificate of one of his five children born in Victoria not a marriage cert for one of his children in NZ.  It is also possible he was a miner.

Cheers
Cando

[djamesp]

Not thinking clearly this morning.  Thanks.  I note your suggestion that he might have been a miner - That wasn't an uncommon pre-ministry occupation in the Methodist Church

[lantb]

Just read your enquiry re Thomas Bryant, Thomas was my grandfather i have information about him including birth certificates etc He had a farm at Black lead near Ross Creek where his father lived- at Cherry tree Flat.

[djamesp]

Dear Lantb
Thanks for your response and offer. There isnl;t a great deal  to ask about but I would appreciate any help you can give with the following:
1. Exact date and place of birth
2. Anything about the education he received
3. What he did after leaving school and going to New Zealand in 1902.  Is that when he was farming at Black Lead.
4. Is anything known about his involvement in Church life (probably with Methodists/Wesleyans) at this time.
4. He came to NZ in 1902, I think, but did not take up Church work until 1904.  What did he do
when he first came to NZ.

Look forward to hearing from you.

[Alastair57]

Hi from New Zealand. I came across this thread while doing some research on my grandfather's side of the family. Thomas was my grandfather, James Richard White's step brother. (they had the same mother, Mary Ann Davies, but different fathers (Edmund White/Mark Bryant). The story deepens as both James and Thomas emigrated to NZ (around 1904 & 1902 I believe) and then Thomas married my grandfather to my grandmother (Clemence Marie Clark at Akaroa in 1909) - so quite an interesting family connection.

I see one of the correspondents on this thread was wondering what the family was doing leading up to the 1900's. The White side were farmers. I've been to Smythesdale area out of Ballarat, and I think conditions must have been fairly tough.

I see that Thomas died at Clydevale in 1921 but I have been unable to locate if he was buried around there or some other place they had a connection to. I found several places he was a Presbyterian minister at and his son 'H.P.' was also

I also found a marriage of an Elsie May Byrant and 'Goldsmith' in 1921, and if she was Thomas's daughter, then she was married just a year before he died.

I'm more or less hoping that there might still be descendants of Thomas living in NZ, and any info would be a great help.
Thanks

[EvieS]

Hi there,
I am following this post with interest - My great grandmother was Elsie May Bryant, and I may be able to help with information on descendants in NZ, if you are still looking for it.   Cheers, Evelyn