Abigail COURTENAY (Courtney) - Emigrated on Isabella Watson 1846

[999WOODBURN]

Hello People,

Abigail (Abbey) Courtenay (Courtney) was my great-great-grandmother. Her death certificate records she died in Long Gully, Victoria in 1910 and was from Ulster in Ireland. Abigail's parents are shown as William Courtenay and Isabella Courtenay (nee Thompson).

We know she arrived in Adelaide in May 1846 on board the "Isabella Watson" with her newborn baby (Charles) - father shown in the SA birth registration records as a Charles Roth.

Three months after her arrival, she married my great-great-grandfather, Robert Banks, in Adelaide where they remained for a few years before moving to Bendigo, Victoria, around 1855.

It would be intriguing to be able to find out a little more about Abigail's past, her parents & siblings, the father of her first child and the circumstances which lead her to emigrating to Australia on her own. When the ship left from London in Jan 1846, she would have be an expectant single woman 18-20 years of age - quite an endeavour to undertake in the circumstances. The baby's father was not with her and she would presumably be aware, her child was likely to be born at sea.

I realize this is all a long-shot, but I never cease to be amazed at what the Rootschat community can track down.

Brendan

[Ruskie]

Hi Brendan,

If you are seeking general information about the likely circumstances that led to Abigail leaving Ireland alone, you will probably get a bit of help here, but if you are looking for specifics about her parentages and her life back in Ireland, this post might be better on the appropriate Ireland board. Perhaps you could start a separate thread related to the search for her Irish family?

On Isabella's immigration did it indicate her occupation and place of origin? It is possible she found herself "in trouble", so left for Australia, possibly with the intention of working. Parent's disapproval/unmarried, opportunities for or promise of work in Australia, Irish famine years etc.

There would probably be no way of finding out for certain but I'm sure you'll get lots of ideas for possible reasons she might have left. Single women were encouraged to go to Australia.

Also, keep in mind that information on death certificates can be inaccurate. Does the information about her parentage tally on both her marriage and death certificates?

[majm]

From an online index

Charles Courtney ROTH was born 5 April 1846 onboard the ship “Isabella Watson”.  His parents were recorded as Charles ROTH and Abigail COURTNEY. 

Abbey COURTNEY, spinster,  married Robert BANKS in 17 August 1846, St Johns, Adelaide.

I wonder if the actual birth certificate has any further information .... I also wonder if the document actually provides a heading for the baby's surname .... and I am also wondering who was noted as the informant and if it were Abigail, how did she sign .... would she sign as ROTH ....

Would the 1846 birth cert give an occupation for the baby's father ?

Is there a crew list for the Isabella Watson ?

Cheers,  JM

[999WOODBURN]

Thanks for the hint about posting on the Ireland board.

Unfortunately, Abigail's marriage certificate shows no detail about her parentage, occupation or even her age. She was probably illiterate, certainly couldn't write as her signature on the marriage certificate is recorded as "her mark"

The death certificate information is comprehensively complete, so I am inclined to believe it. Unlike herself, it appears all her children went on to be well educated - engineer, journalist, school teachers etc. One of her sons (Edward) at the time was a very well respected editor of the Bendigo Independent.

Brendan

[majm]

http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/fh/passengerlists/1846IsabellaWatson.htm

Arrived 14 May 1846.   Transcribed as Abbey COURTNEY.  "This was the first with the assisted migrants after the resumption of the scheme that had been suspended mid 1840"....  I wonder if there is further information on that Migration Scheme ... when was Abbey selected to be part of it, what information was given about her parents, her occupation, her religion, her health, her origins ..... 

Cheers,  JM

[999WOODBURN]

A further snippet.

Another of the passengers on the "Isabella Watson" was a Mary Collins.

Mary Collins, presumably the same one, was one of the witnesses at Abbey's (Abigail) marriage. She too was illiterate signing with "her mark". It is not known if they knew each other before the voyage, or became friends along the way - much speculation!

The other witness was a J. Colyer. Nothing is known about him/her.

Brendan

[cando]

There may be something at SA Records HOWEVER usually if there is further info it would be shown on that transcribed passenger list eg occupation, country of origin etc.  The information is sadly often scant.

Only a few original passenger lists survive, so it has been necessary to use other sources. Even these original lists are only as accurate as the literacy of the recorder and passengers supplying their details allowed. The ship manifests are even less accurate because they are transcriptions of the original lists onto the cargo manifests. Similarly, the newspaper listings are transcriptions. The applications for a free passage suffer from the same problems as the original passenger lists.

Register of Emigrant Labourers Applying for a Free Passage to South Australia 1836-41, PRO CO 386/149-151
Miscellaneous Passenger Lists, South Australian Archives, GRG56/68/52 (fmly A1174)
Miscellaneous Passenger Lists, SAA, GRG35/202/2 (A608)
Manifests of Vessels Arriving from Overseas 1838-42, SAA, GRG41/8 (A743)
Official passenger lists mainly of immigrants arriving in SA under UK assisted passage 1845-86, SAA, GRG35/48A (A313)

Unfortunately, Abigail's marriage certificate shows no detail about her parentage, occupation or even her age. She was probably illiterate, certainly couldn't write as her signature on the marriage certificate is recorded as "her mark"

And neither did any other marriage certificates in SAin that era. Fathers of the bride and groom were not listed until post 1856.  You need to read what information was noted on South Australian certificates.   

Abbey's age was noted as FL=Full Age.

BANKS Robert FL  Status Single  Father unrecorded
COURTNEY Abbey FL  Status Single  Father unrecorded
17 Aug 1846
St John's Church, Adelaide  Ade 65/12

Information on ALL South Australian Certificates
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=368744.0

Cando