Any records of John THORPE in Australia

[maxene]

I am trying to find ANY record of John THORPE who came out to Australia from Northern Ireland as an unnamed child of John (really James) and Jane Thorpe on the Adam Lodge in 1837. He would have been born from 1823 to 1827 so I would estimate that he was 10-13 years old when he arrived. I have managed to find records of the other children (Mary, Anne Jane k.a.Jane, Catherine and Elizabeth). I have also managed to find records for the children born after they arrived in Australia (Alexander, Annie, James and Matilda) but it is as though John did not exist. The father was a stone mason/stone cutter and the family settled at Ravensfield near Maitland. The family was Protestant. The plot thickens because I cannot find a birth record for him neither in Northern Ireland nor Paisley, Renfrewshire in Scotland (where his parents were married in 1823) but the ship's records show 1 male child and 4 female children. I have looked at BDM and Trove and have trawled through various Ancestry family trees but so far I have not been able to find official records for a John THORPE, parents James and Jane. His uncle, John Thorpe, was also a stone mason and he also came to Australia but he was born C1805. Can anyone suggest where else I could look? Thank you, Maxell

[sue21757]

There is this death.
 THORPE  JOHN 5680/1879 AGE 50 YEARS DIED GRAFTON GRAFTON

Trove
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/187715161?searchTerm=%22john%20thorpe%22&searchLimits=l-state=New+South+Wales|||l-decade=187|||l-year=1879

[maxene]

Thank you Sue.  I have just been working through a list of potential "Johns" and I saw the death record on BDM but I had missed the article in Trove. I will get a transcript - seeing that he was a stone mason lends credence to him possibly being the one. I'll keep you posted!!! Maxell

[maxene]

Sue, I have received the transcript of John Thorpe's death certificate for 1879 and, based on it and the newspaper articles, I think he may be the brother of James Thorpe. His death certificate has his age as 50 years but it is a "guesstimate" and other reports have his age as 50-70 years. It states on the death certificate that he was born in Scotland and had been in the colony for forty years. As the Thorpes, like many families, moved between Ireland and Scotland, I can believe that he was born in either country although, so  far, I have not found a birth certificate. This John Thorpe's name was John George Thorpe and John Thorpe who married Ann(ie) Cane in Maitland in 1864 had a child called George in 1869.However, none of this informs me of whether he was the brother of James Thorpe or the son of James and Jane Thorpe. I have ordered a transcript of the marriage certificate to see if it adds any more information. Thanks for your help.  Maxell

[majm]

Some further info here: https://brianboggs.wordpress.com/2007/11/18/the-unnamed-passengers-on-the-adam-lodge-voyage-to-nsw-1837/  perhaps there's others with info to share.

JM

[maxene]

Thanks majm! Brian Boggs has done an amazing job of researching the Adam Lodge and has recently published a book on it! I have gained a lot of background knowledge from Brian's posts and the other contributors but there only appears to be a couple of people working on the Thorpes, and we communicate and share ideas. It would be GREAT if anyone could add to our knowledge. At this stage, we are pretty sure that John George Thorpe was the son of James and Jane Thorpe and we are in contact with a possible descendant. Now, I just need to find out a bit about John Thorpe, the brother of James Thorpe. All the information I thought we had has turned out to be incorrect - the John Thorpe who is listed in the  Sands Directory as a stonemason is from a different family. Thank you for mentioning Brian Bogg's work.  Maxell

[sue21757]

Hi Maxell  Hope the Marriage Cert proves that he is James and Janes son.Will wait on the update. Sue

[maxene]

Sue, I have just received the transcript of the marriage certificate and it tells me almost nothing!!Neither parents of bride nor groom are listed. The only things I could take from it were that his bride was presumably  illiterate as she signed with a cross and that they married in a private home with a Congregational minister. This seemed a bit odd to me until I did a bit of reading - apparently Orangemen were quite involved in the Congregational church in the area. The Thorpes were staunch Orangemen so maybe that is a potential hint that this is the John Thorpe I am looking for. I have also found some more info on Trove and am now pretty certain that this is John Thorpe, son of James and Jane Thorpe. I am now trying to establish if there was actually a brother, John. Maybe it was always James (the father) and John (the son) who were stonemasons and family legend is just that. The John Thorp listed in the Sands Directory is from a different family entirely. We have established that. Thank you for pointing me towards the article in Trove.

[majm]

May I please mention about NSW marriage certs 1856 - 1895 ish

Sue, I have just received the transcript of the marriage certificate and it tells me almost nothing!!Neither parents of bride nor groom are listed. The only things I could take from it were that his bride was presumably  illiterate as she signed with a cross and that they married in a private home with a Congregational minister. .....

There can be elusive blanks.... not at all unusual ...here's a thread that may help overcome those blanks.

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,546609.0.html



JM