Alexander Symon 1861-1871

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Moray_Lass
Posts: 194
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2008 3:18 pm
Location: Moray

Re: Alexander Symon 1861-1871

Post by Moray_Lass » Sun Jun 27, 2010 11:55 am

Oh My, A Lead! [many-greens]

Many thanks Carol and Trish!

I have just spent the last couple of hours trolling around any Australian sites I could find trying to find a death entry with no luck, but my complete lack of knowledge of the system down there could be to blame. I remember someone mentioning the bad situation with census, because that would be the a great help pinning him down as being born in Scotland if not the area. I expanded the immigration/emigration searches and there might to two or more Alex Symon's moving around, but I can't find the initial Outgoing trip if he went back in Aug 1867. And no entry in assisted passages.

Incoming
Family Name First Name Age Mon Year Ship Port Fiche Page
SYMON ALEX 26 AUG 1867 TARARUA N 078 001
SYMON ALEXR 41 FEB 1868 GB B 272 003
SYMON A 37 NOV 1887 TE ANAU N 218 002

Outgoing
Family Given Age Ship month year Destination Ref Ref Page
SYMON ALEXR 23 HELLESPONT II JAN 1854 SYDNEY JAN 1854 006
SYMON A 41 GB AUG 1867 LIVERPOOL AUG 1867 006
SYMON A 31 GOTHENBURG FEB 1868 BLUFF OTAGO
CANTERBURY
WELLINGTON FEB 1868 001

Just need to figure out how to prove/disprove this guy. I know mine was definitely in Newmills in 1863, all I know is a letter in 1865, which could have come from abroad.

Thanks very much for finding this possiblity.
Maggie

Parental -
Moray, Bellie/Boharm:- Symon, Thomson, Davidson, Gordon, Laing, Dick, Thom, Geddes.
Banffshire, Rothiemay:- Lobban, Symon
Maternal -
'Finechty Flett's'
Banffshire:- Flett, Taylor, Wood, Lorimer, Falconer

trish1
Posts: 1320
Joined: Mon Dec 26, 2005 3:38 am
Location: australia

Re: Alexander Symon 1861-1871

Post by trish1 » Sun Jun 27, 2010 2:00 pm

Hi Maggie

There is no census data from Australia post 1841 - very sad - until 2000 all personal records were destroyed & only summaries remain. There are electoral rolls but very little before 1901 (Federation). Prior to that date there were land holding type restrictions on who could vote - although until the 1970s any British subject could automatically get included on the rolls if they met any other requirements. I've looked at the online rolls - and the only alex is a James Robert Alexander Symon in NSW on the rolls 1930 (earliest available in NSW) to 1943. Obviously not your man.

The name Symon is very rare in most Australian BDMs. NSW the most populous state has online records - marriages to 1959 and deaths to 1979
http://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/Index ... ent=births 1850-1950 there are 8 Symon deaths (no alex). Symons and Simons are quite common. Civil registration had started in all states by 1863 so if he died in Oz under the name Alexander Symon it should be registered somewhere.

Victoria I have checked. WA is here http://www.bdm.dotag.wa.gov.au/_apps/pi ... fault.aspx and Qld here https://www.bdm.qld.gov.au/IndexSearch/BirIndexQry.m

I don't have access to Tasmania post 1900 & SA has virtually no records online - both are relatively close to Victoria so possibles.
Tasmanian archives have some online information - http://www.archives.tas.gov.au/ - the Colonial data base is based on their earl BDMs but only goes to 1900.

The online newspapers mentioned in a number of posts are giving many of us some wonderful results so you could try a search on them. I find the advanced search useful as you can limit the dates and the states. The OCR is not spectacular so some inventive searching is sometimes needed.
http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/home

He certainly isn't recorded as a death in Victoria under the name Alex Symon (or similar) but always possible that he used a different name.

Trish

Edit The reason I thought the 1867/68 trips may be the same person was because of the age and the ship name. There is no birth registered in Australia for the right time frame to be the Mr A Symon in the 1867 trip, so it is likely one must have arrived from somewhere (perhaps as a Mr Symon) although the baptism registers for the time of birth 1826-1828 are somewhat flimsy (to be polite about same). They could obviously be 2 separate people.

speleobat2
Posts: 1646
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2007 3:14 pm
Location: USA--Alabama

Re: Alexander Symon 1861-1871

Post by speleobat2 » Sun Jun 27, 2010 3:04 pm

Maggie,

Always glad to help, but Trish is doing the legwork on this one. I was just taking an airconditioning break yesterday when I found the listing on Ancestry. The tree man came in the morning and cut down four large pine trees that the pine bark beetles had killed near our house. We are doing the clean up to save money and it's hot here--90 degrees F or more every day!

Good hunting!

Carol :D
Looking for: Clerihew, Longmuir/Longmore, Chalmers, Milne, Barclay in Newhills,
Munro, Cadenhead, Raitt, Ririe/Reary

trish1
Posts: 1320
Joined: Mon Dec 26, 2005 3:38 am
Location: australia

Re: Alexander Symon 1861-1871

Post by trish1 » Sun Jun 27, 2010 3:18 pm

speleobat2 wrote:Maggie,

Always glad to help, but Trish is doing the legwork on this one. I was just taking an airconditioning break yesterday when I found the listing on Ancestry. The tree man came in the morning and cut down four large pine trees that the pine bark beetles had killed near our house. We are doing the clean up to save money and it's hot here--90 degrees F or more every day!

Good hunting!

Carol :D
Hi Carol - I didn't even think to look in Australia until I saw your post, and I am not finding very much - it was an interesting find you made - ancestry has been collecting more and more on Australia over the past year - seems to be branching into states other than NSW.

I wish it was 90F here - I am not a fan of winter (and it never gets lower than about 40F).

Trish

Moray_Lass
Posts: 194
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2008 3:18 pm
Location: Moray

Re: Alexander Symon 1861-1871

Post by Moray_Lass » Sun Jun 27, 2010 5:41 pm

Thanks Trish for all your help. O:)

I can rule out WA and Qld too - I was going round in circles when I tried to check them this morning but managed it this time - there are Symon/Simon and the other spellings but no Alexander or any variation of that he might have used (like Aleck, Sandy, Sanny etc.). For some reason I must have stumbled onto the Australian newspaper website before - long before I knew I had an Alexander Symon in my tree, because I recognize the story of an Alex Symons trial for killing someone on a ship. And Sir Joshua Symon. :wink: But I am not turning up anything I can claim as my Alex. I have just searched every index Tasmania have online - no Alexander's there either. He could still be slipping through the cracks but he is hiding wherever he is. :x And I think your 1867/8 Alexander is perfectly sensible, I just need to find the paperwork to prove it. My only qualm is his birthday was in Dec, so the age (wrong though it may be) should have gone up a year. :) I'll just have to think about what to try next.

I might as well try deaths in England next, just to rule that out... :wink:

But thanks again :D
Maggie

Parental -
Moray, Bellie/Boharm:- Symon, Thomson, Davidson, Gordon, Laing, Dick, Thom, Geddes.
Banffshire, Rothiemay:- Lobban, Symon
Maternal -
'Finechty Flett's'
Banffshire:- Flett, Taylor, Wood, Lorimer, Falconer

speleobat2
Posts: 1646
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2007 3:14 pm
Location: USA--Alabama

Re: Alexander Symon 1861-1871

Post by speleobat2 » Sun Jun 27, 2010 6:11 pm

Trish,

I'm not a fan of winter either. That's why we moved south when we retired, but this is too hot, too early. Usually we don't see prolonged heat waves until August. Will be interesting to see what the rest of the summer is like. I may be toast by September...

Maggie,

Oh, those little scraps of papers that we all need to get our hands on to prove up our relatives...I have half a dozen of them that I'm looking for myself and may never find!

Carol :D
Looking for: Clerihew, Longmuir/Longmore, Chalmers, Milne, Barclay in Newhills,
Munro, Cadenhead, Raitt, Ririe/Reary

trish1
Posts: 1320
Joined: Mon Dec 26, 2005 3:38 am
Location: australia

Re: Alexander Symon 1861-1871

Post by trish1 » Mon Jun 28, 2010 2:35 am

Had a friend check some South Australian indexes (marriages and deaths to 1916) with no success - whoever that 1868 traveller was - he is keeping a low profile

Trish

Moray_Lass
Posts: 194
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2008 3:18 pm
Location: Moray

Re: Alexander Symon 1861-1871

Post by Moray_Lass » Mon Jun 28, 2010 10:50 am

Thanks very much Trish.

I have just checked the NZ BMD from your other post under Australia/New Zealand, found an Alexander Symon death but he would have been born 1852, he had 8 of a family with his wife starting in 1879, haven't found a marriage or birth for him there. So it looks like mine didn't die there either. This is getting like Mary Thomson's mother - who wasn't born and didn't die, on paper. :roll: Still have to check English BMD...

My main need in tracing him, besides being a completist and to see if he has more family, is hoping it will say whether his parents are alive/dead and if his father was a mason (something Scottish records would do but other don't?). I've a fairly good fit in a James Symon, mason in Rothiemay with family 1841, 51, 61, but James Symon's are hardly rare here. :wink:
Maggie

Parental -
Moray, Bellie/Boharm:- Symon, Thomson, Davidson, Gordon, Laing, Dick, Thom, Geddes.
Banffshire, Rothiemay:- Lobban, Symon
Maternal -
'Finechty Flett's'
Banffshire:- Flett, Taylor, Wood, Lorimer, Falconer

trish1
Posts: 1320
Joined: Mon Dec 26, 2005 3:38 am
Location: australia

Re: Alexander Symon 1861-1871

Post by trish1 » Thu Jul 01, 2010 8:49 am

I was at the library today so I checked the fiche for the immigrants to Melbourne (the records for folks leaving are on film and only available at PROV I think)

They are very old disorganised fiche & whoever scanned the documents seems to have had 5 minutes training :( but I did find the record. He is listed as 41 single, labourer, English (and there are options for English, Scotch [sic], Irish) and intending to settle in Melbourne. master was John Gray, left 13 Dec 1867 with 480 statute adults, estimated trip 90 days.

I have 2 not very legible scans if you would like same.

Trish

Moray_Lass
Posts: 194
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2008 3:18 pm
Location: Moray

Re: Alexander Symon 1861-1871

Post by Moray_Lass » Thu Jul 01, 2010 10:26 am

Trish you really are an angel O:)

I will send you a pm, and thank you very much for going to that trouble for me. At the very least I can try and rule him out if I can find a birth in England that matches.

Was thinking last night in bed :? That wasn't Alistair interchangable with Alexander - have to check that, because if it was I haven't looked for that variation in deaths. I also discovered last night (before bed) that my last three credit have expired on SP - I have never have had any expire before, so everything is on hold until I get to the library Friday. :(
Maggie

Parental -
Moray, Bellie/Boharm:- Symon, Thomson, Davidson, Gordon, Laing, Dick, Thom, Geddes.
Banffshire, Rothiemay:- Lobban, Symon
Maternal -
'Finechty Flett's'
Banffshire:- Flett, Taylor, Wood, Lorimer, Falconer