More on Hiding in Tasmania

[PatLac]

I have no idea how the electoral enrollment worked/works in Australia, but could he had been enrolled before he went to England?

I thought this was him going to London in 1910... I've noticed that he is mentioned in the newspaper ads in February but in March they only mentioned Mrs. Vernon.

WILSON   JOHN MR   70   PERICLES II   1910   MAR   LONDON VIA PORTS

https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/29A1EC23-F7F0-11E9-AE98-3D2032EF8048?image=131

And returning?

WILSON   JOHN   71   1911   APR   PERSIC   MORGAN W F

https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/42DD3C17-F96C-11E9-AE98-9587A208E708?image=255

[clancam37]

Could not find them in early Tasmanian Electoral Rolls.  Women had the vote from 1903 in Australia.  No deaths recorded --- still looking for deaths.
Regards
clancam37

I have no idea how the electoral enrollment worked/works in Australia, but could he had been enrolled before he went to England?

I thought this was him going to London in 1910... I've noticed that he is mentioned in the newspaper ads in February but in March they only mentioned Mrs. Vernon.

WILSON   JOHN MR   70   PERICLES II   1910   MAR   LONDON VIA PORTS

https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/29A1EC23-F7F0-11E9-AE98-3D2032EF8048?image=131

And returning?

WILSON   JOHN   71   1911   APR   PERSIC   MORGAN W F

https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/42DD3C17-F96C-11E9-AE98-9587A208E708?image=255

[Ranolki]

Now there's an interesting thought!  A whole new set of ideas... I had just mentioned to a co-researcher almost as a joke "What if they really were going back to England, just like they said in the contracts and sale info?"

There was obviously some reason why they sold up in Tasmania after only being there for around a year and investing in that farm. The fire was almost certainly too minor to make them want to leave.  I know Isaiah was supposed to meet Christiana as she arrived from Tasmania and her youngest son Basil said years later that they slipped down the crew gangway to avoid him but that Basil saw him waiting on the dock. It could be possible that they had a passage booked back to England and she decided this was a perfect time to strike out on her own.  On that basis he could have carried on with his planned trip but come back later.  I'll have to look at the timings and see what went on at Empire Bridge Farm.  I haven't looked hard yet for sale details. He DID try to sell it before they went to Tasmania but as far as I know it didn't meet reserve (and that would fit with him still being there in 1911).

To be honest there was no reason why they would go to Melbourne anyway, other than to take the ship back to England.  Once she didn't go, was that the point she decided to strike out on her own to Sea Lake?  It just gets more and more complex.  Thanks for the wonderful research!

[PatLac]

Do you know if he paid William I'Anson the £1,500?

[Ranolki]

No the money was never paid over.  I believe this is why isaiah was still using an alias right up until the time he died.

£1500 at that time would have been a substantial sum for William I'Anson but he went on to live a modest life, retiring from the pub trade early.  He appears in the 1911 and 1921 census but then disappears. I have not been any details of his death. Several William I'Ansons who died were born around the same time as him but I've followed each one and none of them match.

[TasTyger]

Just a cross reference that Ringwood was the right property. In 1912 the Beckitt’s  announced the birth of a son at Ringwood - https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10257422?searchTerm=Ringwood%2C%20Forcett The mother was Martha Francesca - https://librariestas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/en_AU/names/search/detailnonmodal/ent:$002f$002fNAME_INDEXES$002f0$002fNAME_INDEXES:2107102/ada?qu=Beckitt&qf=NI_INDEX%09Record+type%09Births%09Births&qf=PUBDATE%09Year%091910-1921%091910-1921&d=ent%3A%2F%2FNAME_INDEXES%2F0%2FNAME_INDEXES%3A2107102%7ENAME_INDEXES%7E0&h=8 and her name is all over the lands titles deeds?

[Ranolki]

PatLac I've looked more closely at those steamship records. I'm not sure how they work but does the fact his name was crossed through on the return journey mean he didn't actually sail, or does that signify something else?  I don't have his actual dob so the ages (70 and 71) can't really be used to verify anything too closely at the moment. He was baptised on 28 June 1840 and the 1841 census said he was one year old so I'm thinking he was born in May or June 1840...

The return sailing seems to show that John Wilson disembarked in Adelaide which wouldn't really fit with Isaiah either, and as I believe he had nowhere particular to go in Australia (ie he had no idea where Christiana had gone so searching for her would be pointless...) he would probably have done what they did first time and sailed directly to NZ.  Also the first journey seems to suggest that John Wilson travelled Third Class, again not something I would expect as they used Cabin class when they first sailed.

So at the moment the jury is definitely out as to whether this is actually Isaiah.  Also he was so paranoid about avoiding paying up that £1500 I would be surprised if he put himself in a position to be traced in the UK, even using a fake name. I still have quite a few thoughts to follow through and I'm also hoping to hear from Christiana's great grandson soon as he may have found some more information in his mother's recollections.  I think initially I need to follow through the idea of whether or not you would need to be physically present on a certain date to fill in the Electoral Roll paperwork in New Zealand and then look for sales details for Empire Bridge Farm.  I'm really bemused about why someone would buy Ringwood, furnish and equip the house and farm etc and then leave after just over a year later.  There are still so many oddities in the whole story...

[PatLac]

His DOB is definitely May or June 1840, given that there are only 3 registered births:

Surname    First name(s)        District    Vol    Page

Births Jun 1840   (>99%)
Oldbury    Isaiah        W Bromwich    18   543    

Births Jun 1862   (>99%)
OLDBURY    Isaiah        West Bromwich    6b   694   

Births Jun 1877   (>99%)
OLDBURY    Isaiah        W. Bromwich    6b   922

I have noticed that his name is crossed but I don't know what it means. Third class could have been one way of avoiding being seen by any acquaintances?

I think he wouldn't publish a lie in the sales ads given that his neighbours (and potential buyers) would know that he was going back to England.

[Lucy2]

.....  I know that they left Tasmania in 1910.  Christiana travelled to Sea Lake in Victoria without Isaiah knowing where she had gone and he eventually returned to his farm in New Zealand.

*  What evidence do you have that Isaiah OLDBURY returned to NZ, and specifically to his farm, after 1910 ?

Sale of Isaiah OLDBURY's property in New Zealand > acreage at Chaney's ("Empire Bridge") and a property at Tuam Street, Christchurch, took place in March, 1909.
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TS19090306.2.64

.....  in New Zealand and then look for sales details for Empire Bridge Farm. 

The following appears to be the first of the "for sale" notices >
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/LT19080529.2.93.1
 ...  with further advertisments appearing from November 1908 ...
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/LT19081104.2.78.4

.....  I think initially I need to follow through the idea of whether or not you would need to be physically present on a certain date to fill in the Electoral Roll paperwork in New Zealand ....

NZ Electoral Rolls :   
Isaiah OLDBURY's first appearance on an electoral roll on NZ was > on the "Kaiapoi *Supplementary roll (Canterbury)" of 1908 : [*  This was a roll made up of persons who'd not enrolled in time to be included in the Main Kaiapoi roll, before it went to print. ]

It does not necessarily follow that just because Isaiah OLDBURY's name appears on the 1911 roll at same place, that he was actually residing in New Zealand.  Often names were carried over to a later roll for a variety of reasons (and even deceased persons might be included).

One should therefore not place too much reliance of these rolls being absolutely correct - they're a useful tool but it's wise that they are used in conjuction with other information.   They are also NOT a census substitute (NZ does not have published census records available.)

     ~ Lu