Robert Stevens photographer

[cupoflife]

I'm doubting RB Stevens being my dad, Robert, as the 2 references which mentioned a middle initial were W and H - which I take to reference either Walter or Henry.  Thank you, Betty

R. B. STEVENS was grouped under a column headed Labourers and Domestics.
Sue

Could R.B. STEVENS be Reginald Beaumont STEVENS?
NSW birth: 18935/1897 Reginald B. STEVENS; Father-Thomas G.; Mother-Mary; Sydney
NZ marriage: 1923/7434 Reginald Beaumont STEVENS and Elizabeth Mary BROMLEY
Electoral Roll: Reginald Beaumont STEVENS, Line Erector
http://caversham.otago.ac.nz/electors/erid.php?erkey=45030

[BettyBoops]

Sounds pretty good to me. Top searching everyone x

[rosball]

Robert STEVEN's death and marriage certs (posted on behalf of Betty)

[sparrett]

Hi Betty,
Re: barbados SEALE line.
How many Colin SEALE's were in his line and if so when were their deaths? Is the Colin SEALE Camberwell death 1967 his line? Can we elminate that Colin SEALE?

CoL

This item describes the first arrivals of West Indian Immigrants to Brixton which includes Tulse Hill where electoral roll entries place Colin SEALE 1954 to 1964 (see above Pg 30 Reply#262)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brixton

[BettyBoops]

I don't know CoL. I'll have to send an email which won't be till later.

[sparrett]

If the R B STEVENS (Sydney to NZ) has after all turned out not to be your man, then there is no evidence of him in Australia before his first work reference from HEYNE in 1923.

So perhaps he landed in NZ from his previous place of abode overseas.

He may have landed in NZ under any name and changed it to Robert STEVENS at any time after.
I have looked at the biographical details  George HEYNE and would be interested if others can reconcile the “army mates theory” with these facts given from the previous  link  an article by HEYNE’s son.

http://www.matchamhall.org/local-history/written-histories/the-legacy/the-legacy-introduction

 I am quoting some sections from that link.

….He {HAYNE} was  born 1880, ….
….Died in Sydney on July 17, 1959….

NB- Considerably older that Robert.

  ……When my parents first came to Australia in 1908…

NB- So here for the first time well before Robert.

……My parents returned to India in 1909……

…… In 1912 they came back to Australia but the war was imminent and my father who was in the Reserve Officers in the Indian Army was called up. My parents returned again to India in 1913. When the First World War broke out my Dad saw active service in Mesopotamia, Afghanistan and Persia (1911 to 1920)……..
[/i]
NB- During his service, Robert was sleeping on planks (presumably) in the trenches.

.....stayed on as manager but it was too much for him alone. He disposed of the animals and left the farm to work on the tramways in Sydney. Later he returned to Java. So my parents’ farm was left unattended until after the war when they returned with me as a small child, in 1921……

NB-So the entry to Australia found in (muss Reply#199) 1921 was in fact a return to Australia

 ….. My Dad had been a telegraphist with the Eastern Extension Cable Telegraph Company……



Sue

[muss]

Hi

  When your parents married . what proof of identity would Robert have used ?

 May have used a Statutory Declaration.  What happens to the form when used ? 

Muss

[BettyBoops]

Good question Muss. I'm wondering if because of his more advanced years, as opposed to some one in their twenties, he may have bluffed his way through the marriage procedure. He "supposed the records were lost" regarding them (NSW records) not finding his birth certificate. Would they be held with the Courts in Childers, or Brisbane? Betty

[BettyBoops]

I spoke to a researcher from LDS and he came up with a suggestion that Robert could have been born before mother married. Johnson is as common as Stevens! No luck. I did find a Robert Henry Johnson, but he's a century+ dead.
He suggested that FindMyPast was the best place to search. As well as FIBIS. All baptisms from India have gone onto microfiche.
Then he said that I need to work backwards from the factual evidence. To try NZ Archives. PapersPast (NZ) - which I had had a cursory look. Learnt about the construction of the Mangahao Power station.
Then of course there is Trove - and the PO directory. Cheers, Betty