Help with William BROWN Convict

[giblet]

NSW death index

695/1865    MCELDOWNEY    JAMES   father  ANDREW    mother JANE    SYDNEY 

[majm]

From the bio re Matilda WATSON …. Matilda’s death …. 21st July 1887, at home, 39 Dixon St, buried 23 July 1887 Congregational Rookwood …. Independent Old Grounds Grave 2543 with William, her husband.

Agh, red post .... it seems likely Mary J McEldowney was a widow,  I wonder who was the informant when she died, and if the info they provided would be helpful as Matilda's dc seems to have scant info about her parents.... (NSW BDM index has unknown WATSON for her father, and no info displayed for her mum).

Cheers,  JM

[giblet]

Im having problems finding a death for Mary J McEldowney  It'll be the jolly spelling of the surname i bet 

It gave me a hard time but i found it 

138/1893    MACELDOWNIE    MARY J   father JOHN   mother MARGARET    SYDNEY

[Akira01000]

LONG POST, several sub-topics ….

So looking at Sydney addresses on the Transcriptions….

1867 23 April 1867 Goulburn St
3 year old Samuel BROWN sadly succumbed.  His parents William BROWNLOW, painter, and Matilda WATSON.  The informant was William Brown, father.  (Yes, that is what the Transcription reads …. Brownlow v Brown )

1871    3 July 1871, 39 Dixon St
Nathaniel BROWN born at 39 Dixon St.,  His father, William BROWN a painter was the informant, and he gave Matilda Watson as Nathaniel’s mum.

1874  …… 13 November 1874, Dixon St
28 year old John BROWN, succumbed.  His father, William BROWN, a painter was the informant, and he gave Matilda Watson as John’s mum.  William was of Dixon St.

1876 …. 11 March 1876,  59 Goulburn St
6 year old Samuel BROWN sadly succumbed.  His father, William BROWN, a painter was the informant, and he gave Matilda Watson as wee Samuel’s mum.   The family were at 59 Goulburn St.

…………

May I ask about the two marriages that I mentioned earlier …. 4 Nov 1843 and 4 Dec 1843 ….. Do you have transcriptions of these please…. And if so, which one matches up to which date …. It is entirely possible that there were TWO couples rather than the one….  And I am hoping to sort out if there was just the ONE couple.   

I am suspecting that these Early Church Records for William BROWN had, by 1912 when they were finally bound up, or by 1930ish when the index was finally attempted (by volunteers) that so many different people had thumbed through these BROWN records, that they had deteriorated quicker than most other pages…. that is, simply because of the surname BROWN, these pages were physically in poor condition because of the need to be constantly inspected whenever anyone asked for info about a William BROWN … It is likely to be in the top TEN of popular names in NSW historic records. .   

So, in a practical sense, it is important to consider that the records are actually written in ink, in longhand, and so these ink records are subject to ‘bleeding’ nib markings, fading at different rates due to the variations in the flow and amount of ink, and of course, poorly formed numbers (eg 1848 v 1843) or 32  (age for Nathaniel’s mum when he was born).   So these records themselves, they were indexed by teams of volunteers in the 1930s (they were of course all very familiar with 19thC longhand, as that is their own hand too, and it was still taught in NSW primary schools well into the 1950s) ….   That index is the basis of the index that NSW BDM uses even today.  And the originals of Early Church Records (the ones pre civil registration commencing March 1856) are NOT accessed by either NSW BDM staff or by official transcribers.  They access the 1930s film of those records. 

I guess that what I am trying to convey is that it is unlikely the informant’s provided false information about themselves, rather that the NSW BDM records are less than perfect, and therefore I am suggesting you try to find other ways to obtain those official records…. Hence my suggestions re the family search option.

Cheers,  JM

The marriages are exactly the same I ordered both the official certificates as it was hard to tell at the time (when they were cheaper).

Both are exact carbon copies same minister same record just different "registry no" as it is by banns as she was with child then had a child at the time of the second reference?.

No idea why it is like this in the BDM and online ancestry indexes...

[wivenhoe]

City of Sydney Assessment Book

1867        77 9 9         59 Dixon Street
William BROWN   (person rated)
Robert WATSON  (owner//landlord)      House £17

[wivenhoe]

Possible....?
BDM NSW  death
1108/1893    WATSON  Robert   parents   John / Margaret                  Sydney   
15114/1908  BROWN  Matilda  parents   John / Margaret                  Petersham

[Akira01000]

Possible....?
BDM NSW  death
1108/1893    WATSON  Robert   parents   John / Margaret                  Sydney   
15114/1908  BROWN  Matilda  parents   John / Margaret                  Petersham

Hi Wivenhoe,

The reference for Robert is Correct he was Matilda's brother, not too sure about the Petersham one,

but if you are looking for Matilda Brown she is my direct ancestor and she married John Dickie in 1876 Sydney she passed in 1906

[joboy]

The Lesley Uebel 'Claim a Convict' site has now disappeared (she died a short while ago) and it seems that somebody has taken up the cudgel see here it might be of help;
http://www.hawkesbury.net.au/claimaconvict/

[Akira01000]

The Lesley Uebel 'Claim a Convict' site has now disappeared (she died a short while ago) and it seems that somebody has taken up the cudgel see here it might be of help;
http://www.hawkesbury.net.au/claimaconvict/

Hi Joboy,

Thanks for the reply, didn't know it was back that's good news.

Cheers
Akira