Can I Be of Any Help .....

[nellie17]

Dear Paddy,

I have sent you a pm i hope that can narrow and count out some places for you.

Kindest Regards

Nellie

[Rachel]

welcome to the main message board Nellie and thanks for your pm,have replied to you by a pm. Like I said any more info on your family names will help us help you.
best wishes rachel.

[nellie17]

Have replyed hope its of somehelp.

Nellie

[tishgibbons]

Dear Generous Nellie!

If your offer is still open ... I am at a loss with a host of Mitchells from Crathie / Strathdon. One in particular, Helen Mitchell, also called Nellie (!) was born in 1846 in Strathdon the daughter of William Mitchell and Margaret Grassick. She had a son Charles Mitchell born 31st May 1868 also in Strathdon. My last sighting of her is in the 1871 census when she worked as a Cook in Tullynessle & Forbes. Her son Charles was at that time with his grandmother, Margaret Grassick Mitchell in Strathdon. I have never found any information on either Helen or Charles since then. When her brother (my g.g. grandfather) came to Ireland in the 1870s he believed her to have gone to Australia though he never mentioned the son. (Illegitimacy was problematic in Ireland at that time!) As there was no contact between him and the family in Scotland (nor between any descendants!) I have no other information whatsoever.

It's a long shot I know but maybe in your searches you just might keep an eye out for these. I would love to be able to offer you some help with your own brick walls but I'm based in Ireland and find it difficult enough as it is.

Thanks again for your kink offer. I expect you'll be overwhelmed with requests.

Regards

Tish

[maggie]

Hello Nellie
thankyou for your most generous offer
if you are not snowed under with research please
could you possibly please add this one to your list?
i've got a piece of the proverbial jigsaw missing in my Yuill
information in Australia.
I know that a William John Yuill/e & a Caroline Jessie Balle
had a son called Charles (i have seen a picture of him)but cannot find a birth for him his siblings births where in Bendigo around 1880-1890's.
thankyou
kind regards
maggie

[JackyHSF]

Hi Nellie

If you have time I'd be very grateful for your offer of help. I don't have much info, but the following is it:

"Peter Nicolson, now Collector of Customs Port Fairy Victoria Australia, son of John Nicolson, Gedintailor in the parish of Portree (Skye, Inverness) and Marion Finlayson or Nicolson his wife now both deceased was born in September 1808 at Gedintailor. Registered 17th March 1863 by Murdo MacDonald."

I don't know why Peter's birth wasn't registered nearer the time of his birth or how (or why given that his parents were dead) the Registrar in Portree suddenly became aware of the omission and where he found the information - presumably news of Peter's occupation was sent back to someone, but who I don't know.

I don't know if Peter NICOLSON had any brothers, but he had three sisters that I know of - Christy, Catharine and Effy (my GGG Grandmother).

If there's any information on Peter in Australia I'd be very grateful if you could give me any tips on where and what to hunt for.

Many thanks

Jacky

[Maud Jarvis]

I may be a bit too late inasking for your help, but here goes anyway.

Is it possible for you in any way to find out through phone books etc or anyt other method, I could trace someone in Australia?

I am searching for a half-brother of my late husband, I had only dscoveed about him recently, and as hismother claimed an Australian soldier (WW1) was his father, he may have emigrated toAustralia to search for his supposed family.

He was <name removed as after TS cut-off date of 1907, LesleyB> born Jan 1918 in Brightlingsea Essex England. His mother`s name was Blanche, maiden name given as Fraser, father George Stringer.

I have searched all kinds of records here and can find nothing on him, his death has not beenindexed so he may still be living somewhere, and I wonder if he, thinking his father was an Australian, may have gone there?

Is there any anyway I can find out, is there somewhere in Australia I could place an advert to search for him,
I know this may be like looking for a needle in a haystack, but worth a try.

[CatrionaL]

Hi Nellie
What a generous offer you made! If that offer is still available, I would be grateful for your help.

In a booklet in the Paisley Museum, I found information about the death of three members of my Walker family in Maffra Colony, Victoria in August 1857. Andrew, Robert and William were brothers. I thought that the death of three brothers, all young men, the same month, in the same year might have been newsworthy, but have so far been unsuccesful in finding any information about the circumstances of their deaths. They were all born in Paisley.

If I can be of any help to you in your Scottish research, don't hesitate to say so.
Kind regards
Catriona

[Currie]

Hello Maud,

It’s been more than two years since Nellie posted anything on this board and in case she is no longer monitoring it or is no longer in a position to help I’ll give you a reply and hope it is of some use.

Australia is a big place and not knowing where to look means you would have to place quite a few adverts all over the Country. You’ve probably tried the reunion sites such as Genes Reunited. Australian Telephone directories are online at http://www.whitepages.com.au/wp/initResSearch.do but do not have the full name.

Was George Stringer the WW1 Australian soldier. All Australian WW1 records are online at the Australian Archives. You’ll find the complete WW1 files for 3 or 4 George Stringers there. http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/record ... index.aspx Maybe there’s a clue buried in there somewhere.

If you can establish which one he was that may narrow down the area of research and increase your prospects of locating any descendants who may have knowledge of the fellow you are seeking. Some Australian states have online BDMs and you may be able to locate his marriage and death dates which may lead to more detail in newspaper notices when the Australian Newspapers Digitisation project gets into full swing next year. http://www.nla.gov.au/ndp/index.html

There are many areas you can research online. For instance does he appear on this database http://www.ancestorsonboard.com/ If by chance you fellow did come to Australia and prior to WW2 he may have enlisted in the Australian Forces and you may find his name here http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/

But unless you’ve already done a slow trawl through every post 1918 English marriage and death quarterly return available on Ancestry and elsewhere it’s probably a bit speculative to be seeking him elsewhere.

Hope this helps,
Alan

[Currie]

Hello Catriona,

It’s been more than two years since Nellie posted anything on this board and in case she is no longer monitoring it or is no longer in a position to help I’ll give you a reply and hope it is of some use.

Statutory registration of BDM’s commenced in Victoria in 1853. Victoria certificates contain as much information as Scottish certificates. See the “search family history indexes” link on this page https://online.justice.vic.gov.au/bdm/home

The cost of a search is A$0.99 (about UK41p and falling) for a page of 20 results and will contain parent’s names if known. I’m not sure whether the district is shown in the results and it’s possible the names of the deceased on the index may be abbreviated to Andr, Robt or Wm.

From 1853 all the way to 1940 there appear to be only 19 And* Walker deaths. From 1853 to 1880 there appears to be only 19 Rob* Walker deaths. For W* Walker 1853 to 1866 there are 40 results

You’ll be able to figure out the most economical way, but by playing around with the fairly flexible search, and knowing the parents names, you may be able to reach certain conclusions without purchasing any search results.

I don’t have many Victoria connections so I’m no expert on searches there but I believe that’s how it works and you may be able to settle this riddle at little or no cost.

According to the Australian Encylopaedia:
“The district was explored in 1840 by Angus McMillan and settled by explorers from the Monaro. One of these was William Bradley a veteran of the Peninsular War, who had pleasant memories of the town of Mafra in Portugal, and named his run accordingly. The second ‘f’ was added when the township was surveyed in 1865.”
More history here http://www.maffra.net.au/heritage/histown.htm

In 1857 “Maffra Colony” in the district of Gippsland appears to have been much less substantial a place than the name in the Paisley document would suggest.

The Melbourne Argus 1846-1957 will be online next year as part of a digitisation project and maybe something will show up there http://www.nla.gov.au/ndp/index.html

All the best,
Alan