Looking for descedents of Hugh Milligan

[Lucy2]

Hi Catherine

Whilst Hugh MILLIGAN junior's Probate record is available at FamilySearch, it is one which hasn't been indexed (meaning it is not "surname searchable").  So the following is the method I use to retrieve such records (those which come under the category of "browsable").

You firstly need to check the Archives New Zealand's Archway website (to see if a Probate file exists) and then to note the  "record number" / "year" / "region" :

http://archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewFullItem.do?code=22383745

Record No. = CH100/1877  :  Year = 1877  :  Region = Christchurch

Then go to ....

https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1865481

> On this page scroll down and click on "Browse through 2,776,961 images"
> Next select "Christchurch Court"
> Next scroll to probate records for year 1877.   There may be several groups for that year, but what you are looking for is the group containing "Record No. 100".
[Record 1877 :  P94/77 - P110/77 ]

> Next you'll need patience  to locate Probate file "Record No. 100" .     On the top bar you'll find a box with "Image" containing a number and forward and backward arrows <-    ->.   
Unfortunately the Record No. does not correspond with the "Image No." so you need to guess where it might be.   In a case like this - where there are files numbered from 94 to 110 -  I would start at the halfway point - by deleting the number already in the image box and inserting a number which is roughly half the total number of images.   From there I'd use the forward or backward arrows to go in search of the Record No.   
Annoyingly, Record No's. seem to appear on only the first page of each Probate file (and are located near the top of the image).  AND, some of these Probate files can consist of many pages, and others, very few.  It's all a bit "hit and miss" when you start searching and patience is the key.

As I've already located the Probate record for Hugh MILLIGAN junior, I can tell you it commences at Image No. 90 - through to Image No. 106.  [Record 1877 :  P94/77 - P110/77 ]

   ~  Lu

[catherineh]

Found it! and thanks for the tip - you've opened up a whole new avenue of search for me, as I didn't realise there are un-indexed files available. 

I wonder if any other dead ends and brick walls have records 'hiding' and just waiting to be found 

[Lucy2]

Hi Catherine

Glad you were able to find the Probate record. 

I'm still delving into your NZ MILLIGANs (lots of records and resources to be checked) ... because there were other Hugh MILLIGANs ... who had children with remarkably similar names.    

I'm a bit curious as to the wording of the death notice (1891) for Margaret Hood MILLIGAN ... which didn't mention a (late or otherwise), husband ??    And also, the absence in NZ death records of her husband Hugh

My recommendation would be that you go ahead and obtain the death printout for Margaret.   It may give information that will progress your search.   

[The 1851 marriage notice (Kilmacrenan), giving details of townlands and parishes for Hugh MILLIGAN and father-in-law John CLARKE, will hopefully make a search of Ireland records a little easier.     Yes, obviously there was some sort of "impediment" to Hugh and Margaret not "tying the knot" until after the birth of their last-born?   Maybe it was just something as simple as "parental" opposition ?? ]

   ~  Lu

[whiteout7]

I wonder if the Milligan family were Catholic and the Clarkes Presbytarian? Maybe this was frowned at in 1851?

[catherineh]

I've been researching some of Hugh Milligan's children in the hope that it might lead to something new to help solve this puzzle.

Hugh's daughter Elizabeth married William Groves in NZ in 1868. They had 2 children in NZ then migrated to Australia and settled in north Queensland and raised a family of 10 children.

Elizabeth died in 1929, and I've found this in the Queensland and Australian Death Records - Elizabeth Otway Groves died 26 July 1929, father Milligan and mother Elizabeth Otway

So wondering now if Elizabeth Otway was Hugh's first wife, or if this is a typo in the transcription (being Elizabeth's forenames)? Interestingly, several of Hugh's children seem to have 'family' names as second names - Thomas Batt Milligan, Isaac Henderson Milligan, Margaret Hood Clarke Milligan - so perhaps Otway is just another?

I haven't been able to find anything more about Elizabeth Otway, so hoping someone out there will be able to help shed some light :-)

Thanks Catherine

[Lucy2]

Hi Catherine

Go to Australian newspapers at Trove website >

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/home

> search on "Elizabeth Otway GROVES"
where you'll get a number of hits.   

   ~  Lu

[Lucy2]

Edited to add:   Is maybe one of the trees at ancestry yours ?     I see there are a few message board posts also for Hugh MILLIGAN ?

Thanks Lu - the Ancestry tree isn't mine, but does belong to a family member who was searching for Hugh Milligan previously.  I think the search hit a brick wall at the time so didn't go much further.

Hi Catherine

The Ancestry tree for MILLIGAN (possibly the one prepared by your family member ?), does contain a good deal of info on MILLIGAN descendants.     Perhaps look for ancestry trees for some of the Australian-born descendants (and their spouses) ??

   ~  Lu

[berker]

Hi, I'm also descended from Hugh Milligan, through his son, William John.
Yes, Hugh arrived in Lyttleton aboard the Clontarf, January 1859, with his second wife, Margaret Hood Clarke and his children to his first wife, Letitia Grey, and their only child, Margaret.
They went on to farm in the Oxford area. He is recorded in the NZ Electoral Rolls as residing in Kaiapoi in 1864 and 27 January 1870, it was written in the Star that Hugh was fined 5s for letting his cows roam freely in Kaiapoi.  There are other articles in Paperspast regarding the family in this area. He was residing in Oxford in the Electoral Roll of 1872.
The wife of another family member has recently sent me the death certificate of Hugh senior. He died in Camperdown, Sydney in 1892 after having a stroke a couple of months prior to his death. The informant was his daughter-in-law, Sarah Milligan, most likely wife/ widow? of James. Hugh had been in NSW for 4 years. Stated that he had been married to Letitia Grey for 20 years, and to Margaret Clarke for 45. These would be estimates.
Cheers
Kerrie

[berker]

Hi, I'm also descended from Hugh Milligan, through his son, William John.
Yes, Hugh arrived in Lyttleton aboard the Clontarf, January 1859, with his second wife, Margaret Hood Clarke and his children to his first wife, Letitia Grey, and their only child, Margaret.
They went on to farm in the Oxford area. He is recorded in the NZ Electoral Rolls as residing in Kaiapoi in 1864 and 27 January 1870, it was written in the Star that Hugh was fined 5s for letting his cows roam freely in Kaiapoi.  There are other articles in Paperspast regarding the family in this area. He was residing in Oxford in the Electoral Roll of 1872.
The wife of another family member has recently sent me the death certificate of Hugh senior. He died in Camperdown, Sydney in 1892 after having a stroke a couple of months prior to his death. The informant was his daughter-in-law, Sarah Milligan, possibly second wife/ widow? of Thomas. Hugh had been in NSW for 4 years. Stated that he had been married to Letitia Grey for 20 years, and to Margaret Clarke for 45. These would be estimates.
Cheers
Kerrie