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Death certificates for soldiers
Q. I have a query that I would like help with. My family lost two sets of brothers in France in WWI. I have searched the Australian death records but can’t find any listings of their deaths. When a soldier dies in a war, where are the death certificates issued, if anywhere? All I have are their war records to go by. Thanks for your help. Vicky Kingdom, by email
A. Neil Smith says It has never been the norm for the Australian or indeed British Army to issue a death certificate following the demise of a soldier on active service. I say the norm, because in the past the Central Army Records Office [see www.army.gov.au] certainly did provide a form of Certificate of Death in some circumstances, but I stress that the certificates did not provide the sort of genealogical detail of interest to family historians. In fact, the rule was that these certificates would not be issued for such a purpose, rather they would only be raised in response to a request for more formal, legally acceptable proof of death to further matters related to estate finalisation such as insurance or superannuation. On occasions you may find the Army had provided a letter, which is not acceptable legally, to advise an interested person of the death of a serviceman or woman. Again, such is of little benefit to a researcher and nowadays, with the ready availability of internet resources on our fallen, would be quite unnecessary.
✳ Lieutenant Colonel Neil C Smith AM publishes on a range of Australian and British military history. Turn to page 31, Issue 6, for his article on Australians in the Boer War. Contact Neil at Mostly Unsung at milhis[at]alphalink.com.au
From "Ask Your Experts", Issue 6; Sep-Oct 2011 - click here to buy online.
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The elusive Doran family
Q. I’ve been researching for 20-odd years and still can’t find my great grandfather’s origins or parents. The information I have is that David Doran was supposedly born in 1842 in Geelong, Victoria. This information came from his marriage certificate, along with his parent’s names, Michael Doran and Mary (née Burke). I have never been able to find anything at all about David’s birth or baptism (if in Australia), or any sign of Michael and Mary arriving in Australia in time for him to be born here. The family was Roman Catholic but I was told many years ago that the Roman Catholic records were non-existent for Geelong. I have not been able to find any other children that fit the family either. I would dearly love to know if he actually was born in Australia and if so, what happened to his parents. Nothing on his marriage or death certificates, or his Probate indicate anything about his origins. I do know the family was Irish. I did find a marriage for a Michael Doran and Mary Burke in Castleisland, County Kerry in 1838 — coincidentally their marriage date of February 25 is the same as David and his wife Flora’s exactly 30 years later, and I wonder if that is a clue? I would dearly love to have my dad’s family history back further than his grandparents. Patsy McMillan, Waikari, New Zealand
A. Shauna Hicks says My first thoughts were that perhaps there was a convict connection with Tasmania as many ex-convicts moved to Victoria when their sentences expired. However, a check of various name indexes online for the Archives Office of Tasmania didn’t return any likely matches with Michael Doran and Mary Burke. A search of BDM indexes for both Victoria and Tasmania for Doran and Burke and all possible spelling variations was without success. Searching for possible deaths for both Michael and Mary Doran without further clues could prove expensive as they are common names and numerous possibilities to work through, and there is no guarantee they died in Victoria. I did notice that the Victorian BDMs index does include the Roman Catholic baptisms for St Mary’s Geelong 1842–1854, and a search revealed 36 baptisms to parents Michael and Mary, but nothing matching David Doran or similar. If he was baptised prior to 1842 he wouldn’t be in the index. I also searched the Genealogical Society of Victoria’s Genealogical Index of Names (GIN), which has over three million names, mostly relating to Victoria (a members-only database), and Victorian Police Gazettes but again without success. The only Michael Doran in the Public Record Office Victoria online index to wills was a bachelor who died intestate with no known family. You mention an ongoing family story that the family is Irish, but there is nothing to actually confirm that. David named his children Michael, John and Mary and this may have been after his parents — but maybe not. The Geelong Cemetery Trust records show that there were Dorans living in the Geelong area in the 1850s, but were they related to David and his parents?
This brick wall is all about finding David Doran’s baptism (as it is before civil registration) with the only clues the names he gave on his marriage certificate. Or trying to find his parents Michael and Mary Doran née Burke. Searches of all the obvious places don’t reveal any information on this couple. One is left wondering if David was really who he said he was and unfortunately, that’s a question that can’t be answered. All I can suggest is that as new indexes and records are released to check them for the Doran family, and good luck.
✳ Shauna Hicks is director of Shauna Hicks History Enterprises and has more than 32 years experience in Australian, English, Scottish, Irish and Norwegian research. For more details, visit www.shaunahicks.com.au
From "Ask Your Experts", Issue 6; Sep-Oct 2011 - click here to buy online.
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Free online access for Irish newspapers
Q. I’m tracing my Irish ancestors who arrived in Australia in the mid 1800s. I’d love to look through the newspapers of the time in Ireland to see if I can find any details on them. Is there a website that will allow me to search them? J White, Maroochydore, QLD
A. Jenny Higgins says The National Library of Australia (NLA) provides access for Australian residents to a number of online newspaper services, which includes Irish newspapers. The Irish Newspaper Archives includes the Freeman’s Journal from 1763, the Nenagh Guardian from 1838 and the Tuam Herald from 1838, which might be of special interest for convict and immigrant research. The British Library Newspapers includes Irish newspapers. Another service, The Illustrated London News Historical Archive from 1842, includes many illustrated articles concerning Ireland.
You can use all of these services from home by becoming a registered NLA reader — registration is free. Go to the NLA home page at www.nla.gov.au, click on “Get a Library card” and fill in the form. You can choose to pick up the card or have it mailed to you. Once you have the card, click on eResources on the NLA’s home page, log-in at the black box on the upper right, using the long number starting with “210” on the back of your card, and your surname. You may then use any of the licensed resources that have the keys symbol beside them. Find the title you want by searching the Licensed Resources list on the eResources page or entering the title in the search box. For more details, watch the video on the eResources pages at www.nla.gov.au/app/eresources.
✳ Jenny Higgins is a family history reference librarian at the National Library of Australia in Canberra, ACT
From "Ask Your Experts", Issue 5; Jul-Aug 2011 - click here to buy online.
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Tracing George Savage in New Zealand
Q. George Savage was born in Kingsley, Cheshire, though his parent’s lived in Helsby, Cheshire. From a farming background, George was the eldest son of David Savage and Alice Savage, née Yates. George was present in the 1871 census records. Shortly after, he emigrated to New Zealand, where he was employed by Mr Tole on his farm at Orakua, near Te Awamutu in the North Island. On November 20, 1882, he drowned in the Puniu River near Orakua, aged 24. I’d love to know why George chose to travel to New Zealand. Were there any large-scale migration schemes at this time? I’d also love to discover the ship he arrived on, and whether it’s possible to obtain a copy of the police report into my great uncle’s tragic death. Was there a funeral report or death notice issued? I know the cemetery at Kihikihi is a closed cemetery; chances are my uncle’s grave would not have a headstone but I would love to see the plot where he was interred. J Shore (née Savage), Powys, Wales, UK
A. Christine Clement says Britain in the 1870s was facing a huge farming downturn and agricultural labourers were hired by the day or on a casual basis. Joseph Arch, a Methodist lay preacher and agricultural labourer, organised the National Agricultural Labourers Union in 1872. And this “Revolt of the Field” soon spread across England. At the same time New Zealand needed settlers, especially those from farming backgrounds, and the Vogel Immigration Scheme was inaugurated. The Labourers Union encouraged their members to go to New Zealand. The 1870s became the largest immigration period ever and from 1871 until 1880, around 99,000 free and assisted immigrants came to New Zealand. Fifty-one per cent were from England, and the rest from Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany (including Poland and Switzerland), Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Italy.
Unfortunately there is no central point for passenger lists to New Zealand, although some of the larger collections are held at:
- FamilySearch
- New Zealand Yesteryears
- Auckland Library Passenger Arrivals 1838-1889, 1909-1921
To find the story of George’s death it’s worth searching the newspapers held at PapersPast. Orakau is in the Waikato region, so search all the papers for that area. By inputting Savage + Orakau, a full story appears of his possible murder, the later finding of his body, and the inquest. This area of New Zealand had only been settled by 1882 and Orakau and the Puniu River were very important in New Zealand’s history. It would be worth finding more on the area to see what conditions were like for George at the time. The Kihikihi cemetery is administered by the Waipa District Council. It may be worth contacting them to see if they have a record of his burial. There is no record of a headstone for him in the NZ Society of Genealogists records.
✳ JChristine Clement has written 11 family and local histories and is mum/slave to Sooty the cat. Between working for Ancestry.com.au and running out of friends whose family tree she has not done, she works in the kiwi fruit industry for which Te Puke is famous. Find out more at Sooty’s genealogy homepage.
From "Ask Your Experts", Issue 5; Jul-Aug 2011 - click here to buy online.
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Searching for Alfred Abdallah in the WW2 records
Q. I’m trying to find the Army records of Alfred Abdallah from Melbourne, who joined the Army in World War II. I know little except he was a driver and spent some time in Japan. He is not on the World War II Nominal Roll. M. Smales, Caulfield, VIC
A. Neil Smith says The World War Two Nominal Roll compiled by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs is a useful tool but is far from complete. One area which requires more work concerns the many service personnel who served on/after World War II in either a full- or part-time capacity. In any event, I note that your man does not appear on the National Archives of Australia (NAA) site either. Because of your reference to Japan I examined my listing of Australian soldiers who served in Japan just after the war with the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces (BCOF). There I found VX501519 Private A J Abdallah with the 129th General Transport Company. I believe this is your man, especially as you say he was a driver. His records are probably held by the Central Army Records Office and you should request them through the National Archives of Australia.
✳ Lieutenant Colonel Neil C Smith AM publishes on a range of Australian and British military history. Contact Neil at Mostly Unsung at milhis[at]alphalink.com.au
From "Ask Your Experts", Issue 3; Mar-Apr 2011 - click here to buy online.
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A Mysterious Boer War soldier
Q. Family lore has it that we had a distant relation in the Bradford line from Victoria who joined the Army to fight in the Boer War. I have a medal from that war with the details “2415 Pte J Bradford JO BURG M.R.” engraved around the edge and think there may be a connection. Above the medal there is a bar with the word “Transvaal”. But there was no man of that name on the Australian War Memorial site, which lists all Australians in that war. Who was my mystery man? N. Bonnet, Sandringham, VIC
A. Neil Smith says Official records at the Australian War Memorial and elsewhere refer to about 16,500 Australian men and women serving in the Boer War in South Africa between 1899 and 1902. Research undertaken by myself and one or two others reveals the figure is closer to 25,000. So that’s possibly why you haven’t found your man on the Memorial’s site. From my records I can confirm that 2415 Private James Bradford with the Johannesburg Mounted Rifles was from Braybrook in Victoria. His unit was one of scores of Irregular regiments raised in South Africa to fight the Boer at his own game. That is, the guerrilla style of mobile hit-and-run conducted on the veldt lands of the Transvaal, Cape Colony, Orange River Colony and elsewhere ─ hence the bar indicating his service in the Transvaal. Such units were heavily manned by Australians and many other colonials who excelled at this unconventional approach to fighting. To find out more on James Bradford one would have to examine the hard-copy service papers and nominal rolls for the Johannesburg Mounted Rifles, which are held by The National Archives in Kew in Series WO 126 and 127. There is even better news though: the recent release of millions of searchable British and Colonial medal rolls from Series WO 100 at Kew onto Ancestry.com.au should allow you to at least identify and confirm the details of Bradford and his medal. The result may even provide an address and service dates. Take a tip, though. Search for the name on the medal, that is, J Bradford, in the military section. You will get lots of hits but then you can narrow down to the war or campaign and short list those with that name against the unit on the medal. I hope James is your family connection.
✳ Lieutenant Colonel Neil C Smith AM publishes on a range of Australian and British military history. Contact Neil at Mostly Unsung at milhis[at]alphalink.com.au
From "Ask Your Experts", Issue 3; Mar-Apr 2011 - click here to buy online.
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Newspapers in regional Victoria
Q. I am researching the Shears family, who lived in and around the town of Mirboo in south-east Victoria between 1920 and 1960. I’d like to know how to access Victorian country newspapers for that time, to see if I can find details of any deaths or burials relating to the family. Flo Faragher, Canberra, ACT
A. Donna Bailey says: The newspaper for that area was called the Gippslander and Mirboo Times. Other titles for it included the Gippslander and Mirboo North Times. It began in 1890 and was published weekly. The State Library of Victoria holds issues published between 1890 and 1964 on microfilm. The National Library of Australia (NLA) holds hard copies from 1964 to when it ceased publication in 1997. The NLA can order in the microfilm reels for you, or you can order it to your local library, as long as they have a film reader.
Keep an eye on Trove as well, there are always new titles being released. Click here for the 2011-12 release schedule and click here for what's been newly added recently.
✳ Donna Bailey is a reference librarian at the NLA
From "Ask Your Experts", Issue 2; Jan-Feb 2011 - click here to buy online.
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Recruited as slaves into Australia's cane fields
Q. I would like some ideas for finding out more about my great-great grandfather. Based on the few records I have, he was born on Mare Island, part of the Loyalty Islands near New Caledonia, perhaps around 1850. Finding more information is difficult because he adopted two aliases during his life, and perhaps more. I have a marriage certificate for my great-great grandparents from 1879. On that his name is Nanana Sawmy. He married Nancy Violet Smithers in Grafton. By the time my great grandfather was born in 1888, Nanana was known as George Murray. In 1890, when another child was born, George Murray had become George Duggan. On his death certificate George’s father’s name is Yorch. Other family members believe Nanana was brought to Australia to work in the cane fields, but ran away and therefore kept changing his name to avoid recapture. This has led me to wonder whether Nanana was a victim of blackbirding, a form of slavery where islanders were either kidnapped or conned into coming to Australia to work on plantations. Blackbirding apparently occurred mostly between 1860 and 1901, so there’s a chance Nanana was involved. How would I learn more about Nanana, and find records on blackbirding and South Sea Islanders in general? Natalie Rigney, Sydney, NSW
A. Judy Webster says: South Sea Islanders were recruited as a source of labour in Australia from the early 1860s. Many were brought in under false pretences or stolen from their families to work in the canefields of Queensland. By the 1890s it’s estimated more than 57,000 had entered the state. Here are some resources you may find helpful:
- Index to Australian South Sea Islanders 1867-1908: Queensland State Archives. Read the explanatory notes about the arrangement of names (Anglicised names, those spelled phonetically, and so on. Some had their names changed by government agents and recruiters).
- The article Kanakas in Central Queensland by Toni Philipoom: www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~auscqfha/kanakas.htm has some background information. It mentions The Blackbirders by Edward Wybergh Docker, available at www.biblioz.com.
- Some South Sea Islanders who absconded were mentioned in Police Gazettes. These are available on www.findmypast.com.au for the period 1864-1900. Start with a single keyword search, and then try multiple keywords (separated by a space) if there are too many matches.
- A Guide to the History of Queensland by W. Ross Johnston and Margaret Zerner lists many relevant published and unpublished works. Look under the headings Melanesians, Contract Labour, Labour Trade, Sugar. It’s also available at www.biblioz.com.
✳ Judy Webster is a family historian, indexer, publisher and speaker who specialises in Queensland sources. Judy’s website, www.judywebster.com.au, has advice on sources and techniques for genealogical research, and over 51,000 names from her indexes to archival records, certificates, photographs and headstones.
From "Ask Your Experts", Issue 2; Jan-Feb 2011 - click here to buy online.
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Researching links to Ned Kelly from Ireland
Q. Can you tell me how I’d go about further researching a period between 1860-1874 when my relatives were living in Australia. It’s been a family legend that my grandmother used to say her father held Ned Kelly’s horse. We could never understand this because as far as we knew on that side of the family everyone came from the west of Ireland. We’d just assumed that perhaps as a young man my great grandfather travelled to Australia, but could find no record of that.
When the 1901 census of Ireland was put online, I found my great grandfather, James Lydon, listed in County Roscommon but his birth place was Australia. Further research found that his father, my great, great grandfather, Michael Lydon, sailed to Australia unassisted in July 1860 on the Young American. Michael was born in Roscommon around 1830. The only other record I have is of his return from Australia aboard the Yorkshire in 1874 with his wife Hannah and his three children, John, nine, James, seven (my great grandfather), and Mary, an infant. Michael settled back in his hometown of Boyle, County Roscommon and reared his family. James eventually travelled between Ireland and America for work and one of the Ellis Island ships’ record lists his birthplace as Victoria, Australia. The time period in Australia correlates with Ned Kelly’s existence, and now so does the place. Are there any records for my great grandfather’s 14 years in Australia? And if so, where do I start in my research? Sinead McClure, Sligo, Ireland
A. Shauna Hicks says: The first step is to obtain Australian marriage and birth certificates. The Victorian BDMs are online but are pay-to-search. You can obtain a digital copy at the same time for an additional payment. A search of the Ancestry Australian BDMs (www.ancestry.com.au) shows that a James Leydon was born 1866 in Keilor, Victoria, son of Michael and Hannah. His brother John Lydon was born in 1864 in Melbourne, Victoria to Michael and Hannah. Note the variation of spelling in the surname for James. No entry was found for Mary Lydon but this may be another case of a surname variation or perhaps Mary was registered under another given name. Michael Lydon married Hannah Evans in Victoria in 1864. Ned Kelly was active in north-east Victoria. There may be some information on the certificates that will place the family in that area, but the registration districts are all in the Melbourne area. It is possible that the family lived in Kelly country between 1866 and their departure in 1874 – finding Mary Lydon’s birth may be critical here. It is only an eight-year time period and if the family did not settle in any one place for long it may not be possible to trace them. Searches of post office directories and almanacs might be worthwhile under both Lydon and Leydon, and perhaps other variations. Was Michael illiterate? This might explain the variation. Findmypast (www.findmypast.com.au) Australasia has Victorian post office directories and almanacs for a range of years. A quick search for both Lydon and Leydon reveal various entries for both surnames, but no Michael. However, there may be other spelling variations of his surname or he may have been listed only under M or Mr. A more detailed search is required. To sum up, purchase the marriage certificate of Michael and Hannah and the birth certificates of both their sons John and James. Examine these three certificates for clues to locations and Michael’s occupation at the time of each event. This might give further clues that can be followed up. Also try and find Mary Lydon’s birth certificate.
Good luck.
✳ Shauna Hicks is director of Shauna Hicks History Enterprises and has more than 32 years experience in Australian, English, Scottish, Irish and Norwegian research. For more details, visit www.shaunahicks.com.au
From "Ask Your Experts", Issue 1; Nov-Dec 2010 - click here to buy online.
