A Tale of Two Surnames - my brickwall

[Geoff Rogers]

Hello All

Archibald Harper was my Great Grandfather and he died in Victoria, Australia on the 21st November 1924. It stated on the certificate that he was 80 years old, had been in Victoria for 70 years and was originally from Beith, Glasgow. This information was provided by his son Alexander from his second marriage.

I have two Australian marriage certificates for him, one for 1874 (aged 29 yrs) and another when he married again in 1885 (aged 40 yrs). On both he states his parents were William Harper, printer and Flora Mitchell and that he was from Beith, Scotland. On the LDS I found a marriage for William and Flora for the 29th December 1830 at Kilmarnock, Ayrshire and assumed they were his parents. No children have been found for the couple though.

Archibald Harper was born on the 22nd June 1845 at Beith, Ayrshire according to family knowledge but no baptism has ever been found for him. There have also been family stories from various branches of his children that have been passed down. In my family my mother and her siblings were told that Archibald’s parents had been killed by Aborigines and he was brought up by a neighbouring farmer and his wife. Another family story says that William Harper died of yellow fever, possibly in South Africa and Archibald and Flora arrived in Australia alone. One other tells how he disliked his step father and ran away from home. There was also a sister of Archibald who remained in Scotland. For whatever reasons these stories arose I have no idea but I am sure they were a smokescreen for his early life.

I have not found any death records for William Harper in Scotland, England or Australia and for whatever reason he left these shores I think he went alone. He is not shown in any Scottish or English censuses either.

In the 1841 census a Flora Mitchell of about the right age is shown with Hugh Mitchell aged 60 years and is presumed her father, also a James Mitchell, a presumed brother and an Elizabeth Mitchell aged 5 years, presumably the sister who remained in Scotland. They were living at 26 New Street, Beith.

In the 1851 census a Flora Mitchell (shown as married) and her son Archibald Mitchell aged 6 years and born at Beith were living with her brother Stephen Mitchell and were residing at Ewing Street, Kilbarchan.

It is my view that Flora had Archibald by someone unknown possibly and she made off to her brother Stephen at Kilbarchan sometime after his birth. There has been no baptism found for Archibald Mitchell on SP or the LDS website.

Sometime after the 1851 census and probably before 1855 Flora and Archibald left Scotland for a new life in Australia. Of all the shipping lists that I and my Australian relatives have searched they have all revealed nothing. It is possible that Flora had a companion and they had travelled under his name but that is only an opinion and with no name to go by it becomes virtually impossible to follow up. It could explain one of the family stories though. There is one possibility for Flora's death in Australia but that doesn't reveal anything to help with this problem.

When I look at all the facts I wonder how Archibald knew who his father was, that he was a printer by trade so enabling him to put these details on his marriage certificates. Did his mother convince him that William Harper was his real father and that he had died when Archibald was a baby. Why was Flora shown as married on the 1851 census, where would she have found out about travelling to Australia and what port might she have departed from?

This saga has been going on long before I started tracing my family history, in fact my Australian relatives have been looking for information since the early 1980’s. I don’t expect anyone to solve this riddle but I have posted it in the hope that someone may spot something that has been overlooked by us.

Regards
Geoff

[Currie]

Hello Geoff,

I couldn’t find anything very useful. The Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program might be worth an occasional look as it develops. Something might turn up in the Melbourne Argus etc pre 1874 and there may even be useful information in any marriage etc notices if you haven’t already seen them. http://www.nla.gov.au/ndp/search/

There are scattered Harpers who are Printers on FreeCen 1841 etc but no William. Coverage isn’t yet complete. http://freecen.rootsweb.com/

19th Century British library Newspapers has about a dozen adverts in the Ipswich Journal between 1807 and 1824 lodged by William Harper (or W. Harper) Printer and Stationer of Halesworth. Mainly to do with staff needed etc and perhaps a bit off the beaten track.

Here’s what looks like William Harper, Calico Printer Manchester, bankrupt 1833?
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=lP8 ... 2&as_brr=1
There’s a clearer version in the London Gazette 23 July 1833. http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/home.a ... ype=London

Hope this helps,
Alan

[Hugo]

Hello Geoff,

What I find curious is that people from Beith would get married in Kilmarnock as they are 15 - 20 miles apart.

Sorry I have nothing positive to contribute.

Hugo

[Geoff Rogers]

Hello Alan

Thanks for your reply. Most of the Australian end has been extensively researched by my relatives there and nothing has been found. The newspaper digitisation program may prove useful when completed.

I have searched SP and Ancestry for William Harper in the 1841 census and drawn a blank. Nothing was found in the English, Welsh, I.O.M and Channel Islands as well. The Manchester link is interesting though and I'll see if I can follow it up, although I wonder why he was there.

Regards
Geoff

[Geoff Rogers]

Hello Hugo

I don't know if the marriage I quoted in my posting is the correct one but so far it is the only one that's been found.

Where William Harper came from I don't know but it I'm sure it wasn't Beith. Flora Mitchell originally came from Morton By Thornhill, Dumfries according to the 1851 census and the LDS website. She probably arrived in Beith with her family around 1824 as a brother James was baptised there. I don't know the distance between a lot of these places and also how far people travelled to get married but I think it all depends on where William Harper was living at the time of the marriage.

Regards
Geoff

[Liz Turner]

Hi there Geoff

Distance would not necessarily be a problem about marriage - it might depend on the work being carried out by the people involved. I have a relative from Nairn (up in the north of Scotland) who married a woman from Campbelltown (in the southwest) which is many many miles away. How did they meet? He was a maker of wheels for carts and met his future wife while travelling round the country doing this.

I have another relative who lived and worked in Rothesay on the Isle of Bute in the west, who married a school teacher in Brechin which is on the east coast - I've not yet worked out how they met, since they were both teachers on opposite sides of the country!

By the way, Beith and Kilbarchan are both only about 10 minutes from where I live, so if I can help with any local things let me know. (Russell is even closer to Kilbarchan than I am!).

Liz

[Geoff Rogers]

Hello Liz

I'll bear your offer in mind if I need any help, thanks.

Regards
Geoff