HELP pls, with birthplace and father of Edward Imlay AIKEN

[jorose]

D'Aiken/"French Navy Captain" sounds like family fancy to me, I would take anything where the prefix "D'" suddenly appears on a family name with a very large pinch of salt.

Looking at the names "Adolphus William", there was a Adolphus Wililam/William Adolphus Bodill, a convict who arrived to Tasmania in 1846. He had a wife and kids at home. His conduct record in the remarks section mentions Sophia Atkins of 37 Brisbane St in 1849, although it's not clear to me in what context (he worked for her?). He absconded in 1851 and I can't find any trace of what happened to him afterwards.

His wife, nee Elizabeth Holland Walthew stayed in England and remarried to Edward Lysaght in 1857 although he's not with her on the 1861 census and she's 'widowed' by 1871.

[iforani]

 
Back again. Wow, that's great detective work guys! This DOES look promising. 
Firstly, Leone.  Thanks for printing that ad...that the ad I referred to in my 1st post in this thread. The bride was a daughter of Edward's first marriage; she was marrying into a family of high social status. A D' added to the Aiken would give some credibility to the family name. I think that this is fictional, "family fancy" as Jorose states. Edward was a man who wanted to have social status, added "esq"after his name, always wore a large diamond ring  etc. I'm starting to wonder just his real name actually was when he was born & whether he changed this himself in his life time.

  This has been what I've been trying to discover, Leone; in this branch of the family tree, there seems to be a lot more fiction than fact & some things just DO NOT gel. The marriage certificate is what roused my curiosity initially. There's more to that story too which I hope to unravel one day (with some help & more transcripts which I will have to order)..

Jorose,  I've searched high and low to find a possible father for Edward (checked out all the Atkins/Aikens/Dakens..etc). I think that you have most likely found Edward's father. It's circumstantial but the fact that Bodill absconded in the very year that Edward was born together with the fact that Sophia Atkins was mentioned in his record & that the name Adolphus William was given by Caroline Edith as her father, points to the likelihood that convict Bodill probably absconded to Victoria with Sophia and her young family close to the time that Edward was born. If he was a convict who didn't want to be found, he could have changed his name, ie to Aiken & given this name to the baby born in 1851. In my searches I remember reading in a ship's register of an Atkins ?Aiken family that travelled from Hobart to Vic. This seemed to match this family however the adult male was younger than the adult female.

Jorose, is an age given for this convict, Bodill? Also how did you access his record, specifically the part about Sophia Atkins? I would love to read this, as well as any other information about Bodill. I assume that Brisbane St is in Hobart?? 

I am sure that you are onto something here. This is exciting for me to read this as it gives me a lead to work on. When Edward's sister was married she stated that her father was living in Hobart Town; again this could have given her some respectability (if her father was indeed an absconded convict whose identity she would maybe wish to protect/hide). i'm not sure whether Caroline Edith & Edward were twins; I am still trying to verify this as I have seen 2 different birth years for Caroline.

Thanks again, so much.  Deb

[jorose]

http://portal.archives.tas.gov.au/menu.aspx?search=11
 - if you search for him here you can view the record online (he's indexed as "William Adolphus" but the records seem to have the names around the other way). It's the "conduct record" that mentions Sophia. (He is on image 31).  There is a Brisbane Street in Hobart which I presume was her address.

On the description list (image 12) he's just listed as Bodil, Adolphus.

He was aged 33 when he arrived in 1846.  He had a wife and five children and his place of origin was Newark on Trent. At familysearch.org you can see his baptism, marriage and some records of his children in England.

[iforani]

 
Hello

Am still on a high after reading these posts last night. This is so exciting for me.

Thank you Jorose. I did find him, ta, also followed a link from Dundee in another thread.  Some very interesting information about him. I have a question though. I noticed that he was also assigned to various people including, yes, Sophia, but also a Henry Luckman & couldn't decipher what was after this but it looks suspiciously like Atkins. It could be a street name similar to this or it could be Henry Luckman, Atkins (meaning both Luckman & Atkins. Any help here from someone with a high res programme would be appreciated. I googled the name Henry Luckman & in the 1867/68 register of people living in Hobart, there was a Henry Luckman living in Brisbane Street, Hobart (which indicates that the other man was Luckman NOT Atkins).
Also if anyone cold enlighten me as to what Bodill may have been recommended for in the records (?? ticket of leave??)...It states 12.06.50 To be recom'd for a JC (LC??) 12 months before becoming eligible to hold one. It also states 10.12.51 Absconded Gazette 18.02.51. How can I acccess these Gazette records, any idea please?

I really appreciate what has been done here. This has been a long search for me & it does look like you have discovered my g grandfather's father. Thanks you so much.  I have been given lots of leads here to follow through.
Cheers, Deb 

[iforani]

  Have accessed the familysearch.org website, and recorded the names of his 5 children. Thank you.
have also accessed the transcription of the court proceedings, which have been transcribed word for word, as well as an old article that lists his former business partner (oil& paint merchant). Interesting stuff.
Thanks again, Deb

[jorose]

This may help:
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~austashs/convicts/conabbrev.html

I see it as Henry Luckman, Collins St.  (near Brisbane St, and it looks like he was running the Lamb Inn, Brisbane Street by 1856).

I think it says he was recommended to be eligible for a Ticket of Leave (TL) a year early - since his sentence was 14 years this would normally be 6 years into his sentence. Presumably this means that he behaving himself around 1850 I don't think one was awarded - he absconded instead!

"Gazetted" would be probably be in the Hobart Town Gazette. I'm not sure if this can be found online (it doesn't seem to be on Trove for 1852).

[iforani]

  Thank you, Jorose. I can make this out now. And thank you for the added info on the Lamb Inn & Ticket of Leave (TL). It was hard to make out with their swirly writing.

Poor guy. I'd say he was lucky to abscond.

  Thank you also for the info on the Hobart Gazette. I googled it & came up with a founders and survivors website which was unfortunately offline due to regular maintenance on SUNDAYS.

Appreciate your help.

Am almost there..just waiting on confirmation of baptism by Sophia Atkins in 1858.

Cheers, Deb

 

[c more]

Hi Deb
I don't mean to dash your hopes but when you go through the ATKINS name on the zades website and check the entries for 1858 and cross check parents with child bapt and then check the births for VIC I think that you will find that the baptism in 1858 in Geelong was for a  Betsy Ann ATKINS, Birth Place Chilwell Victoria, mother Sophia FLOWERS, father William ATKINS,  Registration Number 7276
But I could be wrong.
Cheers Leonie

[iforani]

Hello Leonie
  That won't worry me at all. I had hoped to order the baptism today (still waiting to hear back from the Geelong Family Historical Group) but no word as yet. Susie (Zades) passed on my message & I emailed again but maybe they only work one day a week, as all volunteers.

If I don't hear back from them soon, is it possible to order from a VIC transcript agent??

I talked to my Mum again & she remembers now that her grandfather said that he came to Australia when he was 2 or 3 (she thought he was born in France). Her memory is not the best now. Mum was only 14 when her grandfather died so this is probably where the confusion comes in. Even though Edward stated on his documents that he was born in Geelong, the most likely secenario is that he was actually born in Tasmania. The fact that Adolphus absconded in February 1851 means that he would have wanted to get as far away as he could. The pair may have gone to Launceston, (or anywhere) which gives me other options to look for. Sophia may have had a home birth. It's a shame though as it will be hard to find the actual birth name of Edward.    As Sophia had the other names registered, it is most likely though that she did register his name somewhere. I will check my records again as there was a ship register for a Mrs Imlay travelling with family in 1853 (Hobart to VIC).

Thanks, Deb